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Wing Commander Kapil Kareem
| Service No & Branch | 29719 F(P) |  | ||||||||
| Date of Birth: | Commissioned: 16 Dec 2007 | Course: 180 Course | ||||||||
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| Google the Bharat Rakshak Website for : "K Kareem" | ||||||||||
| Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) | ||||
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| Sqn Ldr | Kapil Kareem | 29719 F(P) | Award Date 26 Jan 2015 | Announced 26 Jan 2015 |
| Details : | Squadron Leader Kapil Kareem (29719) Flying (Pilot) is on the posted strength of a Mirage Sqn since 11 Jan 10. He is a fully Ops and 4 Ac leader on Mirage-2000 aircraft. He has a total of 691 Hrs of service flying of which 318 Hrs Squadron Leader Kapil Kareem was authorized to lead a 2 Vs 2 combat mission on 06 May 14. The sortie was uneventful till the second combat situation. Towards the end of the second combat situation, on commencing a right turn at 11500', 480Kts with 4.5 g, the aircraft went into server oscillations in pitch. The pitch of the aircraft varied rapidly from + 15 to -25. The failure warning on the 2W panel also came on simultaneously. The rapid oscillations exposed the pilot to large positive and negative g loads in a very short time. During oscillations, a maximum g of +7.69 g and -6.13 g were recorded (the normal human tolerance is barely -3.5g). The high rapid onset and varying g forces jolted the pilot inside the cockpit banging his head against sight camera and canopy. The violent jolting severely sprained the pilot's neck and he nearly became incapacitated. He could not move his neck to glance at the warning panel on the right side. He maintained calm and displaying courage of the highest order, skillfully controlled the aircraft by throttling back and selecting airbrakes out. Subsequently, the oscillations stopped abruptly. He called off the combat and handed over the lead of the formation to the attacker leader. Unperturbed by his incapacitation, he maintained good situational awareness and commenced recovery. Despite being unable to straighten his neck and the resultant limitation to the vision in front, he landed the aircraft safely. The response of the aircraft during the event was abnormal and recovery method from such situations demanded very high skill level on the part of the pilot. Squadron Leader K Kareem during the event was subjected to high g load factors and stress which is beyond the human tolerance levels. He despite being nearly incapacitated, went beyond the call of the duty to stay with the aircraft and recover it safely, displaying courage of the highest order. For this act of exceptional courage in ensuring safe recovery of aircraft, Hon'ble President is pleased to award Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) to Squadron Leader Kapil Kareem. | |||
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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/29719
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.