Fighter pilot Abhinandan who crashed in Pakistan, shot down F-16 quits Indian Air Force, joins private airline

Abhinandan Varthaman left the IAF on March 31 and later joined Fly91, a regional carrier.

Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who was awarded Vir Chakra for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 during a dogfight over the Line of Control (LoC) on February 27, 2019, has quit the Indian Air Force and joined a private airline, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

He left the IAF on March 31 and later joined Fly91, a regional carrier, the officials said asking not to be named.

From IAF to private airline

The dogfight in which Abhinandan was involved took place a day after the IAF’s Mirage-2000s struck targets in Pakistan’s Balakot in response to the Pulwama suicide attack in Kashmir in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on February 14, 2019. He was a wing commander then.

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Abhinandan, then 35, scripted military aviation history by downing an F-16, seconds before his own MiG-21 Bison was hit by a missile forcing him to eject. Experts then hailed it as the first ever kill of an F-16 by a MiG-21 Bison, fighter jets of two different generations.

He was captured after he bailed out of his aircraft, but Pakistan returned him to India on March 1, 2019, after holding him captive for almost 60 hours.

Vir Chakra is India’s third-highest wartime gallantry award, after Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra. Abhinandan’s citation, published in the Gazette of India in December 2019, said he courageously engaged the Pakistani aircraft package despite its “immense numerical and technological superiority,” and his aggressive manoeuvres forced the enemy aircraft into tactical chaos.

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In February 2019, Abhinandan was posted with a MiG-21 Bison squadron and was on ‘operational readiness platform’ duty at air force station Srinagar when a large Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft package was detected heading towards LoC. Abhinandan was scrambled to intercept this package five minutes after it was detected.

How Abhinandan shot down the F-16

The citation said he pursued a retreating enemy fighter aircraft and in the ensuing aerial combat, shot down an F-16.

“However, in the melee, one of the enemy aircraft fired multiple advanced BVR missiles, one of which hit his aircraft forcing him to eject in enemy territory,” it said.

Rahul Singh is Defence Editor at Hindustan Times and has covered military affairs and national security for nearly 25 years. Apart from extensive and deep reporting on the Indian military, including several newsbreaks that have set the national news agenda over the years, Rahul has reported from conflict zones including Jammu & Kashmir, India’s North-east and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rahul has co-authored the bestselling 'India's Most Fearless' series of books on recent Indian military operations. Widely read and translated into multiple languages, the books place an emphasis on firsthand accounts of daring missions across the three services. His work has been adapted into web series and films including the National Award-winning Amaran. Rahul comes from an Army background and attended schools across the country before completing his education from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Grew up playing tennis, now mostly cheers from the sidelines. Works in Delhi, heart in the mountains.Read More