Amid tragedy, Aero India 2019 to take off in Bengaluru on Wednesday

All six vendors in the fray - Boeing and Lockheed Martin, MiG, Dassault, Saab and the Eurofighter GmbH - sent across their fighters to show off their aerobatics capabilities

Aero India 2019, the defence ministry’s biennial aerospace exposition being held in Bengaluru from Wednesday to Sunday, will begin on a sombre note. On Tuesday, two Hawk jets of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) aerobatics team, Suryakiran, collided in mid-air, resulting in the death of a pilot and the hospitalisation of two more.

The lead up to Aero India 2019 has been dogged by confusion. First, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman decided to shift Aero India to Lucknow, even though it has always been held in Bengaluru, where suitable infrastructure exists. Field visits to the Lucknow airfield revealed its unsuitability but, by