BrahMos missile misfire: IAF officers did not follow the SOPs, says DG Rane

Following a case of the accidental firing of a BrahMos missile on March 9 that landed in Pakistan, the Centre terminated three Indian Air Force (IAF) officers from their services, after they were found responsible for the accidental firing. Talking about the incident at BT's India@100 summit in New Delhi on Friday, Brahmos Director General Atul Rane said that a court of inquiry was set up and it was concluded that the SOPs were not followed by the three IAF officers. 

“A court of inquiry was set up and it was concluded that the SOPs were not followed by the three IAF officers. You may term it as riding a bicycle without hands,” Rane told Raj Chengappa, Group Editorial Director (Publishing), India Today Group at the BT's India@100 summit in New Delhi on Friday. He added that the company has proper SOPs in place, and there has been no technical default at the company's end.  

An official IAF statement stated that a BrahMos missile was accidentally fired on March 9. Following this, a Court of Inquiry (Col) was set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident. It was found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile. 

The officials removed from their services were a Group Captain, a Wing Commander, and a Squadron Leader, as reported by the ANI agency. 

Following the incident, Pakistan summoned India's Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad on March 9 and strongly protested against the "unprovoked" violation of its airspace by the supersonic projectile.  

The Court of Inquiry found that 'deviation' from SOP by the three officers led to the accidental firing of the Brahmos missile that landed in Pakistan, IAF said in an official statement. "Their services have been terminated by the Central Govt with immediate effect. Termination orders have been served upon the officers today, 23rd August," it added. 

The missile in question had landed in Pakistan, with the Indian government stating at the time that the incident was "deeply regrettable" and was caused by a technical malfunction in the course of its routine maintenance.