The Indian Air Force (IAF) Court of Inquiry (Col) into the accidental firing of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in March, which landed in Pakistan, found that deviation from Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by three officers led to the incident. Services of the officers have been terminated with immediate effect, the IAF said on Tuesday.
“A BrahMos missile was accidentally fired on March 09, 2022. A CoI, set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the SOP by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile,” the IAF said in a statement. “These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the Central Government with immediate effect. Termination orders have been served upon the officers on August 23, 2022.”
The missile landed 124 k.m. inside Pakistan, following which the IAF ordered a CoI headed by an Air Vice Marshal, a two-star officer, to probe the incident. A day after the incident, Pakistan military had stated that the supersonic surface to surface missile flying at three times the speed of sound at 40,000 feet ended up 124 k.m. inside Pakistan damaging some civilian property.
