The Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Thursday [paid tribute to Squadron Leader Abhinav Choudhary, who lost his life in Mig-21 Bison crash last week, by flying “missing man” formation. Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria flew the “missing man” formation in a MiG-21 Bison aircraft.
The Chief of Air Staff flew the sortie at the Rajasthan’s Suratgarh air force station. Notably, the No. 23 Squadron is also known as Panthers. The Indian Air Force (IAF) in a tweet said, “Panthers paid tribute to Sqn Ldr Abhinav Chaudhary by flying a ‘Missing Man’ formation, as they recommenced their op flying. The senior most serving ‘Panther’, CAS flew a Bison & joined the CO in the aerial tribute. CAS later interacted with aircrew & technicians of the base.” The IAF also shared the video of the formation.
Tweet By IAF:
Video of Missing Man Formation:
Sqn Ldr Choudhary lost his life in an Mig-21 BISON aircraft crash on May 20. The accident took place Punjab’s Moga district. The aircraft was on a routine training sortie when the accident occurred. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) was ordered to investigate the crash. The IAF officer did his schooling from Meerut and Dehradun. Sqn Ldr Chaudhary had been posted at the Pathankot Air Force Base since 2014. He was married in December 2019.
Notably, it was the third crash involving Mig-21 BISON. In March, a Group Captain-rank IAF pilot was killed in an accident involving a MiG-21 BISON. The aircraft crashed while taking off at Gwalior. In January this year also, a Mig-21 BOSON aircraft crashed near Suratgarh. The pilot of the eject safely that time.
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