'Risk discrimination' among pilots will be the death of IAF

Disparities in the flying risk allowance, introduced for the first time in the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations, has led to much heartburn among Indian Air Force's various branches.

Sources said since the inception of the IAF, the flying risk allowance had been the same for all pilots regardless of whether they were flying fighters, helicopters or transport aircraft.

But the Pay Commission has recommended Rs 7,000 for fighter pilots and Rs 2,400 for all others.

Helicopters and transport aircraft have been in combat-like situations for the past 13 years, while fighter pilots last saw action during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Hence, the amount of risk-taking for which the allowance is meant for should, by all logic, be more for them than the fighters.

The disparity is all the more rankling as the personnel of all three streams undergo the same training course. Till now, there was no discrimination in branching them off. The first ranker in the course could be deputed to transport or helicopters and the brilliant test pilots have contributed a lot to the development of the advanced light helicopter.

Under the new scheme, a trainee pilot in the fighter squadrons will draw almost thrice the salary the instructors, test pilots and examiners in the other branches do, sources pointed out.

The oft-trotted argument that a fighter pilot's job was more risky as they had to fly sophisticated machines at supersonic speeds and go deep into enemy territory was a fallacy, they said.

While the fighters were equipped with all safety aides including ejection seat, the helicopters and transports planes had nothing as back-ups.

The unarmed slow-moving helicopters, for instance, were vulnerable to ground fire while leading the fighters to enemy targets in combat situations. They were running risks on the Siachen glacier and in Leh while reaching supplies to troops amid shelling from across the border.

Even if fighter aircraft were grounded for a single day, nothing much would happen, but if helicopters did not fly for even a few hours, lives would be lost as no rescue or relief measures would be possible in hilly or remote areas, sources pointed out.

They said only helicopter and transport pilots are entrusted with the task of flying VVIPs including the President, prime minister and foreign dignitaries.

Sources said the amount of gallantry awards received by helicopter and transport pilots far outnumber those earned by fighters in the post-1971 era. Besides the vital role played by the former in Siachen, Ladakh and the North-East, helicopter pilots have also seen action in Somalia, Sri Lanka and Mali as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force.

As a matter of routine, these machines operate beyond the parameters set by manufacturers, in the harshest and most inhospitable terrain. For instance, at Siachen, the machines are operating in the world's highest battlefield. This calls for superb flying skills, courage and needle-sharp reflexes on the part of the pilots.

In combat roles too, helicopters are becoming practically indispensable. It guides the fighter planes onto the target, flying almost at treetop level to escape enemy radar and, at the correct moment, advises the fighter to release its missiles or bombs and then makes a quick getaway. Likewise, as a gunship, it can carry more armaments than fighters and, being slow-moving, is able to zero in on target with more accuracy.

Thus, sources pointed out that any sort of disparity creeping in would affect the morale of the personnel and have severe consequences in future for the helicopter and transport streams -- the best would, naturally, opt for fighters. Only the rejects may find their way to the other two wings.

When air forces the world over have realised the vital importance of helicopters, such attempts to reduce the importance of this wing would only drive a deep wedge between service personnel, they added.

UNI