A newly surfaced video of the Tejas fighter jet crash at the Dubai Airshow has offered the clearest view yet of the Indian Air Force pilot’s final moments, showing how little time he had before the aircraft struck the ground and exploded. The footage, shared by WL Tan’s Aviation Videos, indicates that Wing Commander Namansh Syal attempted to eject in the last instant, but the aircraft’s extremely low altitude left no margin for survival. The brief appearance of what seems to be a parachute-like object between the 49- and 52-second mark suggests a desperate final effort that came too late as the jet burst into a massive fireball.
The Tejas, India’s indigenous lightweight multirole fighter, had been demonstrating a low-altitude aerobatic sequence when disaster struck. Videos from the airshow captured the aircraft descending rapidly, followed by a violent impact that sent thick black smoke spiralling into the sky. The loss of Wing Commander Syal, a highly experienced pilot from Himachal Pradesh, marks the first death associated with the Tejas fleet since it entered service a decade ago. Although a Tejas crashed near Jaisalmer last year, the pilot managed to eject safely, preserving the type’s strong safety record until now.
The new clip, filmed by a spectator, shows the fighter executing a barrel roll before transitioning into a negative-G turn. Experts point out that such manoeuvres demand sufficient altitude to recover, and in this case, the jet was flying only a few hundred feet above the ground. As the aircraft completed the inverted segment of the manoeuvre, it continued to descend with no room left to pull up. Analysts say there was essentially no envelope available for the pilot to stabilise the aircraft post-loop or regain lift, making an escape attempt nearly impossible in the final seconds.
The exact cause of the crash, whether mechanical, aerodynamic or human-factor-related, will be confirmed only after a detailed investigation. The Indian Air Force has ordered a court of inquiry to determine why a jet with an otherwise strong flight record went down during a carefully planned display routine.
Wing Commander Namansh Syal, aged 37 and originally from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, leaves behind his wife — herself a retired Wing Commander — and their seven-year-old daughter. His cremation is scheduled for Sunday, as the Air Force and the nation mourn the loss of a skilled aviator who died in the line of duty.
