| Details : | Group Captain Pankajakshan Sanjeev Nair (20652) AE(M) was commissioned in the technical branch of Indian Air Force on 12 Mar 90. He has held appointments of Senior Engineering Officer of a MiG-29 Squadron, OIC Tech Flight of MiG-29 Base, Production Engineer and Senior Production Engineer of the MiG-29 overhaul line at 11 Base Repair Depot, Senior Engineer (Mechanical) of a Su-30MKI base, Joint Director Engineering at Air HQ (VB) and Chief Engineering Officer of a Su-30MKI Operational Base. He is trained on MiG-29, Su-30K and Su-30MKI aircraft and is an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Bangladesh. He is presently functioning as Director of Su-30MKI Maintenance Cell at Air HQ (VB) since 01 Apr 2015. He was awarded commendations by Air Officer Commanding in Chief, SWAC and WAC in 1996 and 2000 respectively and Chief of Air Staff in 2004. The Officer has many landmark achievements to his credit which have resulted in substantial improvements in the Operational potential of the respective fleets that he has worded in. As oi/c Tech Flight, he led the team of specialists for the first MiG 29 high altitude trials at Leh in 1999 whereby high altitude starting and maintenance procedures were formulated and streamlined. At 11BRD, he was instrumental in preparing comprehensive checks and procedures for Corrosion Prevention and Control Program for MiG-29 aircraft, which was the first such document for the fleet. He was able to recover two aircraft involved in accidents by innovative structural repairs which had never been attempted in the fleet before. He set up the Composites Repair Lab at 11 BRD and formulated out of the box repair solutions, resulting in recovery of many control surfaces. As the CEO at Su-30MKI base, he was able to ensure very high levels of tarmac availability. In an accident involving a loaded Su-30MKI with collapse of undercarriage, a broken wing and the loaded bombs partially embedded in the mud, he led from the front to defuse the bombs and made the aircraft tow worthy overnight and pave the way for subsequent recovery of the aircraft. In his current assignment as Director Engineering A1, he is responsible for Su-30 fleet maintenance management. By ensuring responsive product support, availability of critical spares, availability of test equipment and streamlining maintenance procedures, he has been able to successfully enhance the fleet serviceability. Critical maintenance problems of aero engines and ejection seats have also now been mostly resolved and substantial reduction in the number of high failure rate aggregates has been achieved. For distinguished service of high order, Hon'ble President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Group Captain Pankajakshan Sanjeev Nair. |
