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Air Commodore Abhay Satish Parandekar
| Service No & Branch | 23567 F(P) | Stream :Helicopters |  | ||||||||
| Date of Birth: -- --- ---- | Commissioned: 17 Jun 1995 | Course: 155 Course | |||||||||
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| Google the Bharat Rakshak Website for : "A S Parandekar" | |||||||||||
 Wg Cdr | ||||
| Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) | ||||
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| Wg Cdr | Abhay Satish Parandekar | 23567 F(P) | Award Date 26 Jan 2014 | Announced 26 Jan 2014 |
| Details : | Wing Commander Abhay Satish Parandekar (23567) Flying (Pilot) was commissioned in the Helicopter Stream of the Indian Air Force on 17 June 1995. He is a Category 'A Qualified Flying Instructor and a Helicopter Combat Leader. He is presently posted as Commanding Officer of a Mi-17 V5 helicopter unit at Air Force Station Phalodi. On 23 Jun 13, he was informed about a group of foreign nationals stranded in the middle of gushing Bhagirathi river near Harsil, which had already crossed the danger mark. The river was swelling by the hour and any delay could have cost precious lives. On receipt of this information, he took on the onerous job of rescuing these people. On arrival at the spot, he saw that the river was in full spate and there was no place except a small patch of land surrounded by water left for landing the helicopter. Additionally, there were high tension wires running along the river valley. Further, the weather was deteriorating. Correctly analysing the situation, he decided to attempt a landing on a small patch of land which was slowly getting submerged with rising water level. With utmost precision and dexterity, he manoeuvred the helicopter so as to affect hover with one wheel in light contact with ground. All 17 foreign nationals and three Indians stranded were rescued safely. Wg Cdr AS Parandekar displayed exceptional courage in effecting a successful rescue despite extremely challenging conditions. Thereafter, as the Detachment Commander at Joshimath and Pithoragarh, he continued the flood relief operations for next one month during which he flew 255 sorties which in effect saved 2344 lives and led to the induction of 78.6 tonnes of relief load. This was the most by any pilot operating in the area of operations. Under his guidance, 158 HU flew a total of 287:05 hrs while rescuing 4443 people for Op Rahat which is the highest among all the participating units. For his act of exceptional courage, dedication to duty, unflinching determination beyond call of duty and display of valour to save people and give them succour, Hon'ble President is pleased to award Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) to Wing Commander Abhay Satish Parandekar . | |||
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| Reference : Air Force Day Booklet | ||||
The data in the header section of this page comes from the Gazette of India - Click here to see the source
The URL for this page is http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/23567
Note: All the data available here is publicly available in the Gazette of India, published by the Indian Government, or from public domain sources, press releases about Awards and Right-To-Information (RTI) Requests. Additionally data shared by veterans is added to the page with permission. No data with respect to serving officers below the rank of AVM is displayed. Information in Gazette of India and Award citations and photographs as released by the Indian Air Force are the only details displayed.