Indian Air Force Wing Commander Namansh Syal died after a Tejas fighter jet he was flying crashed during an aerial display at the Dubai Air Show on Friday.
A video has now surfaced showing Wing Commander Syal, a resident of Himachal Pradesh's Kangra, before the crash.
In the video from the Dubai Air Show, he was seen with Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth, India's Envoy to the UAE, Deepak Mittal, and Additional Secretary (Gulf) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Aseem R Mahajan.
The 34-year-old pilot is reportedly survived by his wife, also an Indian Air Force officer, their six-year-old daughter, and his parents.
“The entire village is very sad today,” a relative of Wing Commander Syal, who was from the Patiyalkar village, told the news agency ANI.
“He was supposed to get a promotion. At 34, he was a squadron leader. He was a very humble man,” he added.
Tejas Dubai Air Show Crash
The Tejas fighter jet crashed on Friday afternoon during a flying demonstration at the Dubai Air Show near the Al Maktoum International Airport.
The aircraft -- a single-seat Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) -- went down at around 2:10 pm local time.
Video of the incident indicates that the pilot failed to recover from a negative-G manoeuvre at low altitude.
Clearer footage of the Indian Air Force crash at the Dubai Air Show https://t.co/EOfroFXtyS pic.twitter.com/mxkTNNderS
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) November 21, 2025
The IAF said it has constituted a court of inquiry to ascertain the cause of the accident.
An IAF Tejas aircraft met with an accident during an aerial display at Dubai Air Show, today. The pilot sustained fatal injuries in the accident.
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) November 21, 2025
IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and stands firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief.
A court of inquiry is being…
The incident marked the second crash involving a Tejas aircraft in less than two years. In March last year, a Tejas fighter jet went down in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer, the first such accident in the aircraft's 23-year history since its maiden test flight in 2001. The pilot had ejected safely.
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