After the entire fleet of 35 Tejas fighter jets in the inventory of the Indian Air Force (IAF) underwent ‘exhaustive checks’, it has been found that the accident on February 7 was caused by a glitch in the software of the plane’s onboard computer.The software has been corrected, and a new upgraded software is being tried out on the plane, said sources. The software upgrade has been done jointly by the IAF and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.The glitch that caused the accident on February 7 was not a mechanical or metallurgical failure, the sources said, adding that glitches in software do happen and are corrected.The IAF had ordered ‘exhaustive checks’ after the mishap, in which a jet was veered off the runway into an adjoining mud-ditch while it was in the process of taking off from a forward base along the western front. The pilot of the single-seater aircraft survived, but sustained injuries. The IAF is also conducting its Court of Inquiry.The subsequent exhaustive checks included checking the metallurgy of the under carriage that holds the wheels, the electro-magnetic system used for applying brakes and the software.On February 23, plane maker HAL had said that the February 7 incident was ‘not a crash’, but a minor technical incident on ground.“As a standard operating procedure, the issue is being analysed in depth and the HAL is working closely with the IAF for a speedy resolution,” the HAL had said. Light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas maintains one of the world’s best safety records among contemporary fighter aircraft, the company had added.The February incident was the third accident involving Tejas since its induction in 2016. The fighter jet had faced its first crash near Jaisalmer in March 2024, when the aircraft crashed while coming back from a firepower demonstration. The pilot had managed to eject successfully.The second crash happened in November 2025, when the fighter jet was involved in an aerobatic display at the Dubai Airshow. Wing Commander Namansh Syal had died in the mishap.In all, 40 Tejas jets were ordered. Since plane maker HAL is yet to deliver two Tejas, two of the IAF’s 38 jets have been lost to crashes while the fate of the plane involved in the accident on February 7 is still to be decided.Besides, the IAF is also awaiting the delivery of the Tejas Mark 1A jets, 180 of which have been ordered so far, with deliveries running behind schedule by two years.