Saras production-standard aircraft on hold

It's like a deja vu of the DRDO Avro AEW&C crash of 1999. And the signs aren't good either. The Saras Production Standard Aircraft (PSA, previously Prototype-3) has been placed indefinitely on hold until all investigations into the March 6 crash of PT-2 are completed satisfactorily. The National Aerospace Laboratory was aiming for a first flight of the PSA by June this year, though that target slipped long before the crash. The PSA was re-scheduled to first fly at the end of this year. The PSA will have new light-weight carbon fibre wings and empennage (weight, remember, has been the platform's undoing), a weight-optimised fuselage, an advanced autopilot and an Engine Instruments and Crew Alert System (EICAS).

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