An advocate filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday urging it to direct the Centre to take measures to counter the increase in the number of Indian Armed Forces plane and helicopter crashes, PTI reported. Alakh Alok Srivastav’s petition follows the deaths of two pilots after a Mirage 2000 trainer fighter aircraft crashed near the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport in Bengaluru on February 1.

The plea cited the “alarming increase” in plane and helicopter crashes. Srivastav has demanded the setting up of a court-monitored panel, including a retired Supreme Court judge and Indian defence services experts, to conduct a thorough investigation into the Bengaluru crash.

He said the panel could identify officials who can be held accountable for the crash. The plea cited a media report, which pegged the number of deaths in Indian armed forces aircraft crashes at 45 since 2015. He said the report claimed that the Indian Air Force, the Army and the Navy have recorded at least 80 fatalities in accidents involving over 75 aircraft and helicopters since 2011.