Flight Lieutenant Pasupathy Venkatraman is on the posted strength of one of the Air Force Squadron since 16 Oct 89. He has a total experience of 758:00 hours, of which 225:00 hours are on MiG-27 ML aircraft.

On 19 Aug 91, while carrying out a night practice level bombing sortie over a Range in MiG-27 ML aircraft, the detachable wingmounted gun pods got released accidentally, when the trigger for release for bombs was pressed. Flt Lt Venkataraman felt a very violent wing-rock, which he immediately countered and climbed to a safe height.

The gun­pod had caused extensive damage to the leading edge of the starboard wing and starboard flaps. Being a night sortie, he had no means of assessing the extent of damage visually. However, during the subsequent low speed handling check, when he selected flaps down, he noticed a marked "rolling" tendency. The "rolling" became progressively severe as the speed was reduced. He therefore decided to carry out a flapless landing.

Drawing upon the reserves of his limited flying skills, Flt Lt Venkataraman executed an extremely dangerous and critical flapless landing by night with no damage to the aircraft.

Flt Lt Venkataraman displayed outstanding presence of mind in a potentially dangerous situation. By his exceptionally cool and professional handling in a disastrous situation, he landed a crippled aircraft safely against all adversities.

For his exemplary courage in handling a potentially disastrous emergency by night and outstanding professionalism in landing a crippled aircraft, the President is pleased to award Vayu Seva Medal to Flt Lt P Venkataraman.