'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.
'There is much to glean from such exercises. And make it known that we are ready to take them on together!', says Air Commodore Nition Sathe (retd).
'Not a single bullet was fired, but we were warning the enemy not to continue with their antics!' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe finds out how the Light Combat Helicopter, which will be inducted into the IAF on October 3, was designed, developed and flown.
'Me and my boys had never ever thought in our wildest dreams that we would be taking part in a rescue mission of this kind.' 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.
'Windows shook and rattled, and the thunderous growl of the engines doused even the sound of our noisy helicopter till such time the plane had lifted itself into the skies and disappeared from view.'
'All enemy positions lay exposed, providing immense information to the Indian Army and IAF to conduct successful flushing out operations.'
On the 20th anniversary of the first flight of the Tejas, we must congratulate the entire team who made sure that the LCA flew and returned safely on January 4, 2001, sowing the seed for development of a state-of-the-art fighter airplane that our country so badly needed, says IAF veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
All of India welcomes the Light Combat Helicopter into the Armed Forces arsenal and wishes it a safe tenure and happy shooting. May it rule the skies and ensure that the enemies are given a fitting reply when the need arises.
A Court of Inquiry into the incident has been ordered.
The entire base must be spic and span with flags fluttering along the roads. Everything that moves will be washed and bedecked with the best while everything that is static will be painted afresh, observes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
'The simultaneous fire from so many guns rained down on the enemy and pulverised them, a sight I can never forget till my last breath.'
Air Commodore Nitin Sathe discovers how the IAF trained Pakistani air force pilots, during the 1971 War, which led to the birth of the Bangladesh air force.
He visited areas falling under the operational command of the Rising Star Corps, including Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Pathankot, to review the security situation.
The Amarnath pilgrimage resumed on Monday after remaining suspended for three days following flash floods that claimed 15 lives, while the Jammu and Kashmir administration said it would get a clear picture by Tuesday about the damage.
The military aircraft crashed soon after taking off on a routine mission from Gorakhpur.
We salute the Mi-8 today on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of Operation Cactus. Through its glorious service career, the Mi-8 left an indelible mark on the future by providing the IAF with a lineage of professional helicopter aircrew, says Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
The Indian Air Force has evacuated over 400 flood-affected people across Assam in the past 20 days as relief helicopters and transport planes are on round-the-clock standby. Air Commodore P E Patange of the Eastern Air Command said besides airlifting 400 marooned persons from various parts of the state, the IAF also airlifted dozens of tonnes of relief material for distribution.
'To me, this is true patriotism - not deciding who should and should not say 'Bharat Mata ki jai,' in what language, with what inflexion, at what time, etc, but the recognition that the Indians who protected our country and the military traditions that made those men, must be honoured,' says Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
A helicopter on a training sortie made an emergency landing on the terrace of a five-storey residential apartment building in Bangalore on Thursday due to a technical snag, but both the pilot and the trainee on board are safe, authorities said.
Avani Chaturvedi flew a MiG-21 bison in her first training solo sortie, in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
'Our air force can strike them with impunity.'
Up in the Sky, Helicopter Stories takes us through the exotic and even charming world that Nitin Sathe has lived as an Indian Air Force pilot, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
The Sukhoi-30 Mki was formally inducted at the Air Force Station at Chabua base in Assam on Tuesday. The induction was done through a ceremony with the inaugural flight of the SU 30 MKI taking off which also performed a overshoot before landing, according to a defence source.
A Few Good Men and the Angry Sea: 2004 Tsunami, the IAF Story, is the incredible story of survival, guts, resilience and indomitable spirit of the air warriors and their families, civilians and the government's efforts in rebuilding the strategically important military Car Nicobar air base.
China is India's longtime "strategic challenge" but not a "threat", a group of strategic and defence experts said today.
India will need to watch carefully and understand the new round of instability and uncertainty in Pakistan, while charting the course of its future diplomatic initiatives, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The aircraft roared over Islamabad, the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi and other cities this afternoon as Air Force spokesman Air Commodore Humayun Viqar Zephyr said in a statement: "in view of the current environment, PAF has enhanced its vigilance."
'We should have seen these signals and reacted earlier.' 'We miss out on a certain strategic advantage by arriving late on the scene.'
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's helicopter has been traced, an Air Force official stated on Thursday morning."We have located the helicopter. It is on top of a hill. It is located at a distance of 40 nautical miles east of Kurnool," an IAF official told mediapersons on Thursday.He added that the IAF had already sent two helicopters to the area, which were looking for a place to land. "But it is on top of a hill, in a jungle, so it is difficult," he said.
A bonanza is in the offing for the senior ranks as the Defence Ministry has cleared proposals for creating more than 110 posts of Generals.
Rescue and relief operations continued in full swing in Chennai with over a hundred people taken to safety by teams of Army, IAF and NDRF, including a seven-month pregnant woman who was airlifted on Thursday from one of the worst-affected areas in the flooded city.
'We decided that we would fire our rockets and dive into the valley and get away, making it difficult for the missiles to be fired.'
An Indian Air Force special rescue team on Thursday rescued Canadian diplomat, Andrew Norfolk, his injured wife and their three children trapped in snow in Dhauladhar ranges, north of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, since Wednesday.
'I am grateful to God that I am alive and he has made me differently-abled for a greater cause,' says Wing Commander Shantanu.
'The Pakistanis were not the mujahids or terrorists as claimed initially.' .'They were trained soldiers who held state of the art anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down our airplanes.'
The jet took off for a practice flight at around 1.00 pm with Squadron Leader Pandey piloting it.
Air Commodore Nitin Sathe reveals what he learnt from the Indian Air Force, which he served for 35 years. An Air Force Day Special.
Sometimes it is the man behind the machine who makes mistakes, sometimes it is the machine which does so, and sometimes it is a combination of both and some other factors that leads to an accident, notes Helicopter pilot IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
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