On 10 Jul 96, he was authorised to fly a procedures sortie. At an altitude of 6 km, all of a sudden he felt vicious longitudinal jerks accompanied by wild fluctuations of engine parameters. The pilot maintained his cool, reported his emergency on RT and throttled back to reduce the oscillations. Initially the engine did not respond to throttle reduction. On further throttling back, the engine flamed out. Pilot successfully relit the engine. On opening throttle to prove the engine, violent fluctuations recurred and on reducing throttle the engine flamed out again. The pilot relit the engine a second time. He left the throttle at idling this time, correctly analysing that if he advanced the throttle, the same cycle of violent fluctuations and flame out would occur. The pilot executed a flawless landing with the throttle at idling rpm knowing fully well that the engine could malfunction at any time.

After the engine failed the second time, the pilot had an option to eject as minimum power required for a safe recovery was not available. It was a dangerous situation, as after that he would not have had the minimum parameters required for a safe ejection. However disregarding personal safety he, very gallantly chose to recover the aircraft. It was by exercising sound judgment and exceptional flying skill that he landed the aircraft safely Flying Officer S Chaki not only saved the aircraft worth many crores but also provided vital evidence for investigations which would go a long way in instituting remedial measures for the future. In handling the emergency he displayed extraordinary courage and acted in keeping with the best traditions of the Indian Air Force.

For this act of gallantry, the President is pleased to award 'Vayu Sena Medal' to Flying Officer Subroto Chaki.