Welcome to the Abhijit Air Safety Foundation Website

I Dream…I Dare… I Fly!

His dream becomes his destination and one fine day he dons the 'wings' of a fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force. Now, even the sky is not the limit. Nothing could give him more joy and his parents, more satisfaction.

Then a fatal moment catches up with him.... and his life. The blue sky that beckoned him, darkens forever for his loved ones. For the rest of the world his sacrifice becomes just another number in the series of fatal accidents involving MiG fighter planes.

The story could well have ended there but for a spirited battle by his mother that led to a change in the mindset and a shift in the attitude of those responsible.

Hers was just a candle in the darkness, but it lit up a path for others and brought hope to many.

The Abhijit Air Safety Foundation (AASF) is not only a culmination of Kavita Gadgil’s battle for her son’s honour, but a banner to proclaim the beginning of a brave new attempt to ensure better and safer skies for her other sons, our nation’s soldier-pilots, our own children who dare to dream.

September 11th 2001
The time stood still and the world watched with horror as the mighty symbols of the western world came crashing down, taking thousands of innocent lives in a puff of smoke on that fateful day, what is now known as 9/11. The ripples were felt throughout the world, affecting every one of us.

One week later, on a moonless night on September 17, 2001 a young pilot sat in the cockpit of an old MiG-21 aircraft, poised for take off on a mission seemingly routine, but fulfilling a vital role the IAF was called upon to play, post 9/11. The young pilot had already sat out his allotted watch-hours during the day, but he put all that weariness behind him as he opened the throttle for another take off.

In a roar, he took off, to lead another young colleague in a mock combat. But within all of 33 seconds mother earth took the young lad into her embrace- forever this time! There was neither a forewarning nor the time for a farewell.

On December 21, 1996 on the Parade Grounds of the Air Force Academy in Hyderabad, a dream was fulfilled for the young pilot and his proud parents. At that ti me, no one ever dreamt of the nightmare that was to follow in less than five years from then.

This then is the story of courage, and betrayal!

AASF
The Abhijit Air Safety Foundation (AASF) came into being on  December 21, 2002 as a necessity at the height of seemingly unstoppable series of fatal MiG-21 crashes.

The AASF movement started by Kavita Gadgil after her son, Flt Lt. Abhijit Gadgil’s fatal MiG crash in 2001, triggered an intense media focus and national attention was drawn to this problem. This movement proved to be an innovation and forced the government and the IAF, to finally address the issue with the significance it deserved. A look at the statistics for the last three years will show that the AASF movement has had a considerable impact on lowering the MiG-21 accident rate and there has been a major shift towards acquisition of modern technology, which the IAF badly need s. Of particular eminence are the recently acquired Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs) and Flight Simulators, petitions for whose acquisition were denied time and again.