"Remember that these three helicopters were flown by some of the most experienced pilots in the Air Force flying the President. This should be understood very clearly. They were not aware of the Air India aircraft because it was on the tower frequency. So, there was no contact between the two aircraft," Major told media-persons in Bengaluru.
He became the first helicopter pilot to be named chief of the Indian Air Force.
'Imagine hanging from a thin steel cable under a helicopter with certain death staring at you below, being pulled up slowly in the din and downwash of the helicopter.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, a helicopter pilot himself, reports on how the air force rescued those trapped in the Deoghar cable cars disaster last fortnight.
If the government of the day would like to set in place a smooth and well-planned changeover and facilitate the incoming chief to chalk out his action plan well in advance, the announcement of a successor needs to be done early, observes Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
Nitin Gokhale, national security expert and founder BharatShakti.in, tells us what the controversy is all about.
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