IAF grounds entire fleet of Tejas after third major incident, to launch extensive scrutiny

• IAF grounds all Tejas jets after runway overshoot incident
• Pilot ejected safely; third Tejas accident since 2024
• HAL shares drop over 3% after reports of the grounding

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The Indian Air Force (IAF) has grounded the entire fleet of Tejas light combat aircraft days after one of the jets sustained major damage to the airframe after overshooting the runway at a frontline airbase following a suspected brake failure.

Sources told PTI that Tejas had sustained major damage to its airframe in the incident which took place earlier this month.

Following the incident, the IAF grounded the entire fleet of around 30 single-seat Tejas jets to carry out an extensive technical scrutiny, PTI reported.

The pilot of the aircraft had ejected safely after the incident.

It is learnt that the aircraft was returning to the base after carrying out a training sortie.

There was no official word from the IAF on the accident that took place on February 7.

It was the third accident involving the Tejas jets. The first one took place in March 2024, when a Tejas jet crashed near Jaisalmer.

The second incident took place in November 2025, when a Tejas jet crashed during an aerial display at the Dubai Airshow.

The latest accident comes at a time when Tejas maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has missed several deadlines to supply the Tejas Mark 1A variant of the aircraft to the IAF.

Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) fell over 3% following the reports.

In February 2021, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas Mk-1A jets for the IAF.

The delivery of the jets is facing delays primarily due to GE Aerospace missing several deadlines for the supply of its aero engines to power the jets.

The defence ministry in September last year sealed another deal worth Rs 62,370 crore with HAL to procure 97 Tejas MK-1A light combat aircraft for the IAF.

Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.