Indian airforce loses half its planes According to India's defence minister AK Anthony 482 had crashed, killing 171 air force pilots since the country began buying MiG jets in 1966. The incidents had killed 218 people including civilians. Critics said the figures raised questions over why India had continued using the fighter jets and described them as "flying coffins." The high number of crashes was attributed to "human error" and technical difficulties." Many different MiG models remain in service in the Indian Air Force, but some, like the MiG 21, are being phased out because of its poor record. Design concerns over pilot visibility and landing speed have been cited to explain why it is regarded as problematic. Retired Air Marshall AK Singh said India had no alternative to buying MiGs until its recent economic rise. We could have thought of discarding MIG fighter planes only if we had an option. We are talking about an era when the Indian economy was in infancy. There was scarcity of funds for procurement of new technology planes and the only option left with us was to fly these MIGs," he said.