During these seven decades, the IAF has lost 2,374 aircraft to crashes.
They include 1,126 fighters and 1,248 non-combat aircraft.
In addition, 229 trainers and 196 helicopters have crashed.
These crashes have resulted in the deaths of 1,305 skilled pilots, note Ajai Shukla and Devesh Kapur.
A group of seven jet aircraft which took off from Malta Airport and flew in formation was the Saudi Arabian air force aerobatics team, which stopped in Malta fo