A Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1 of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed during the Dubai Air Show 2025 while performing a manoeuvre on Friday at around 2 pm (Local time). The plane was piloted by Wing Commander Namansh Syal, who died in the crash.
Wing Commander Syal hailed from Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district. Jagan Nath Syal, the father of the IAF pilot, was scrolling through YouTube videos of the Dubai Air Show when he came across the clip of the crash, reported The Indian Express.
Jagan Nath last spoke to the Wing Commander a day before the crash. “I last spoke to my son yesterday. He told me to watch his performance during the air show on TV channels or YouTube. Around 4 pm today, I was searching for videos of the ongoing air show in Dubai on YouTube when I saw reports about the plane crash. Immediately, I called my daughter-in-law, who is also a Wing Commander, to check what happened,” the IAF pilot’s father told The Indian Express.
Last Video Of Wing Commander Syal:
He further said that moments later, six IAF personnel arrived at their house and informed them about the incident.
Notably, the Wing Commander’s parents had been staying at the IAF pilot’s house in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore for the past few days and were taking care of their seven-year-old granddaughter. Meanwhile, Wing Commander Syal’s wife was undergoing training in Kolkata.
The IAF pilot was in his mid-30s. A video of the accident showed the jet abruptly losing height after what looked like a low-altitude manoeuvre and then nosediving into the ground within seconds before being engulfed in a ball of fire.
Video Of The Crash:
Black smoke billowed over the Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central. “IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and stands firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief. A court of inquiry is being constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident,” the IAF said in a brief statement posted on its X handle.
State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the manufacturer of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), said it was deeply saddened by the loss of life of the “courageous IAF pilot.”
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was deeply anguished at the loss of a “brave and courageous IAF pilot.”
“My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. The nation stands firmly with the family in this tragic hour,” he said in a post on X.
