In addition to the striking images, the crash of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) TEJAS at the Dubai Air Show has garnered widespread notice due to its political and emotional significance.
Particularly on social media, where each frame was magnified and weaponised for opposing agendas, the flame and rising column of smoke quickly became symbols for dramatic stories.
Beyond the visuals, however, is a straightforward reality: air-show flying is intrinsically risky. Display pilots demonstrate agility, responsiveness, and performance by pushing aircraft to their physical and aerodynamic boundaries. Even though they are extremely terrible, accidents during these exercises are not uncommon in any nation’s aviation history.
According to preliminary data, the TEJAS lost control while executing a negative-G manoeuvre at low altitude. Extreme aerodynamic and physiological strains are imposed by such movements. Once the jet starts to sink, there is seldom any space for recovery due to the lowered altitude.
The rate of descent is frequently too rapid for a safe pull-up when the wings level out following a downward roll. The result can be determined in a split second. In these circumstances, there might not be enough altitude for the ejection system to work, which sadly seems to have happened in Dubai.
Crucially, there are no indications of structural weakness, mechanical failure, or design flaws. Instead, preliminary evidence confirms that this was a dangerous aerial manoeuvre that exceeded recoverable limits—an operational risk that aerobatic aviators worldwide are familiar with.
Performance and physics are on the verge of collapsing in air-show flying. When manoeuvring near the ground, even the most sophisticated aircraft have very little tolerance for mistake. Extreme acceleration or deceleration, quick pitch changes, and high roll rates all add layers of complexity that technology is unable to completely eliminate.
India is not the only country where aerobatic show crashes occur. A J-10S from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force aerobatics squad crashed during rehearsal in 2016, and a Chinese JH-7 Flying Leopard crashed during a show in 2011. There have also been fatal incidents involving American teams like the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds.
For example, a USAF Thunderbird F-16C pilot botched a Split-S manoeuvre in 2003 and ejected just before contact. These illustrations show that even the most elite teams in the world, using expensive aircraft, are subject to harsh physical regulations at low altitudes.
