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Group Captain Ravinder Ahlawat
| Service No & Branch | 26300 F(P) |  | |||||||
| Date of Birth: | Commissioned: 16 Dec 2000 | Course: 166 Course | |||||||
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| Google the Bharat Rakshak Website for : "R Ahlawat" | |||||||||
| Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) | ||||
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| Wg Cdr | Ravinder Ahlawat | 26300 F(P) | Award Date 15 Aug 2017 | Announced 15 Aug 2017 |
| Details : | Wg Cdr Ravinder Ahlawat (26300-T) Flying (Pilot) has been on the posted strength of a front line Indian Air Force Establishment since 20 April 2013. On 26 Ju116, he was authorized to carry out a 'Range Instructional Technique' (RIT) sortie over Pokharan Range in Mirage 2000 Trainer aircraft as the captain of the aircraft, occupying the front cockpit. While carrying out "Pull Up Attack" circuit, at 500 ft above ground level at high speeds and in a tum, the aircraft experienced a Bird Hit. The severity of the impact shattered the canopy perspex completely and the bird hit Wg Cdr Ahlawat, damaging his helmet, breaking his visor and injuring his face, neck, arms and chest resulting in profuse bleeding and nearly incapacitating him. The bird also broke the glass separator between the front and the rear cockpit as well. The impact also damaged the front pilot ejection system. Due to the injuries, blood streaming down his face and bird remains, Wg Cdr Ahlawat had limited vision available from his left eye only. Despite the nature of his injuries, shock of impact, high wind blast and minimal reaction time since the aircraft was flying at low level, he took all the emergency actions correctly to save the aircraft and people of a village in close vicinity of the Pokharan range. During recovery, the rear pilot could not see the runway due to the perspex being obscured. Without the front pilot taking over and landing, the aircraft would have to be abandoned. There were significant chances of ejection system failure due to damage to the same. Displaying gallantry and upholding the virtues of "service-before-self", Wg Cdr Ahlawat used his one hand to open his left eye, took over the controls with the other hand and 'despite incapacitating injuries, limited binocular vision and with the canopy perspex blown off, he executed a safe landing on the nearest runway of an Air Force Base which resulted in saving of an expensive national asset and lives on ground. For this act of gallantry, Hon'ble President is pleased to award Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) to Wing Commander Ravinder Ahlawat. | |||
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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/26300
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.