India’s most advanced fighter aircraft, the Su-30 MKIs have resumed operations in Indian skies, more than three weeks after a fatal and still unexplained crash resulted in the grounding of the entire fleet of the fighter aircraft.

While normal flying operations are yet to commence following the crash that took place on April 30, officials said that in a step towards restoring normalcy, a few sorties were carried out by the fighter on Saturday.

The investigation into the crash, which is being carried out with the help of a Russian team, is still on. Though, sources familiar with the probe revealed that the cause of Wing Commander PS Narah’s death, the co pilot of the ill fated fighter, has been identified.

The officer was killed when his parachute got torn after he ejected from the aircraft, sources said. The possible cause of this was contact with falling debris or a collision with the aircraft.

India has close to 60 Su-30 MKI fighters as part of three squadrons based in Pune and Bareilly. This crash broke the crash-free history of India’s latest and most advanced fighter. The aircraft which crashed was barely six years old and the manner in which it crashed had confounded the Air Force.

While the joint probe is on, investigators are looking at a possible flaw in the ‘fly by wire’ or a structural problem with the aircraft. The fighter had gone into a sudden and involuntary 270 degrees ‘bunting’ manoeuver that sent it into an uncontrollable spin which lead to the crash. What had shocked the IAF was the fact that the aircraft was flying level and straight at over 20,000 feet when the accident occurred.