The investigation process has been intensified after the crash of India’s indigenous fighter aircraft LCA Tejas during the air show organized in Dubai on Friday (21 November). The pilot died in this accident. The aircraft was attempting to return to level flight after a negative-G maneuver when the accident occurred.

Air Marshal (retired) Anil Chopra, while talking to NDTV, said that the investigation into the accident will be conducted very quickly and the Indian Air Force and the government are looking at the matter very seriously. He said, “Investigation will begin immediately. Both the Air Force and the government will closely review the incident. The HAL team is also present there as they were part of the entire demonstration.”

The role of organizers and police will be important

Since the Tejas accident took place on foreign soil, a formal process will be followed to bring the debris to India. According to Air Marshal Chopra, the role of Dubai’s local administration, air show organizers and police will be important in this process. He said, “After any such accident abroad, it is not possible to do anything without the help of the local administration. The local police cordon off and secure the area. The air show organizers and the ground crew team that accompanies each country also remain on standby. But the main support is provided by the local administration.” A joint team of Government of India, HAL experts and IAF officials will now thoroughly investigate the technical, operational and security aspects of the incident.

What was seen in the video of the accident?

Video of the accident showed that the Tejas aircraft was trying to return to level flight after a negative-G maneuver at low altitude, but could not recover in time. This maneuver has been an important part of showcasing the aerial capabilities of Tejas. Just before the collision, the plane appeared straight for a moment, but by then its vertical speed had increased so much that it collided with the ground. The pilot did not eject.

Anil Chopra said this big thing

According to Anil Chopra, very few fighter planes in the world are able to do such negative-G turn. “Such a performance proves that the aircraft’s fuel system and other technical systems can withstand sustained negative-G. It demonstrates both the pilot’s ability and the strength of the aircraft,” he said.

He said that what happened between the negative-G turn immediately before the accident and the repositioning turn that followed will be investigated in detail. He further said, “Many professionals, media channels and spectators were making videos. The investigators will look at all these videos frame by frame to determine which maneuver was correct, where the mistake happened and match it with the flight data recording.”

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Just an accident or some technical fault… How did India’s Tejas fighter jet crash in the Dubai Airshow?

The pilot of the LCA Tejas fighter plane that crashed at the Dubai Air Show tried to beat death at the last moment, but the plane hit the ground and his life could not be saved. This accident happened when the plane was performing a very dangerous stunt.

Accident during dangerous ‘negative G turn’
Aviation experts, after watching the video, said that the Tejas aircraft suddenly started falling downwards while doing a negative G turn. The pilot tried to straighten the plane again and gain altitude, but by then it was too late and the plane fell to the ground. Negative G is such a situation when the plane rotates strongly in the opposite direction and reverse pressure of gravity starts acting on the body.

The pilot tried to control till the end
In negative G, the blood inside the body rushes towards the head, due to which the pilot can also become unconscious. In such a situation, it is very difficult to keep the plane under control. It is being estimated from the video that the pilot kept trying to control and straighten the plane till the end, but he could not succeed.

Dubai Air Show spectators evacuated safely after Indian Air Force’s Tejas aircraft crash, emergency services present at the scene – TASS https://t.co/LhsS0KjlyL pic.twitter.com/k8KN35PlWq

— RT Hindi (@RT_hindi_) November 21, 2025

This Tejas was in service since 2016
The Tejas fighter jet that crashed belonged to the squadron deployed at Sulur airbase in Tamil Nadu and was in the service of the Indian Air Force since 2016. IAF also confirmed the accident and the death of the pilot by posting on X.

Tejas – IAF’s safest fighter jet
After the recent retirement of MiG-21, Tejas was being considered as the new reliable fighter of the Air Force. This is the second accident of Tejas in 24 years. The first accident occurred in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan in March 2024 – that is, 23 years after the first test flight in 2001.

Why is Tejas aircraft ‘unstable’ but extremely agile?
The design of Tejas has been deliberately kept unstable so that it can turn at lightning speed both in air shows and in combat. To keep it balanced, a very advanced fly-by-wire system (flight computer) has been installed in it – the same technology is also used in the American fighter plane F-16.