Flt Lt Pramod Kumar Singh

Flt Lt Pramod Kumar Singh hailed from Agra in Uttar Pradesh and was trained as a helicopter pilot in the Air Force. Though trained on various helicopters,  Flt Lt Pramod Kumar Singh was flying Dhruv Advance Light Helicopter(ALH) during 2016-17. Son of Mr Ram Niwas Singh and Mrs Pushpa Singh, Flt Lt PK Singh was passionate about flying and loved his machine, the ALH helicopter. In a short span of his service career, Flt Lt PK Singh had evolved into an ace pilot and gained expertise in various air operations.

During 2016-17, Flt Lt PK Singh was serving with 115 HU AF based at Air Force station Tezpur in Assam. During July 2017, parts of North East faced torrential rains and land slides necessitating massive rescue operations. Flt Lt PK Singh’s unit was entrusted with the job of providing help to the beleaguered civilians in the inaccessible areas of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Helicopter Crash: 4th July 2017

As part of ongoing rescue operations in Assam and parts of Arunachal Pradesh, 115 HU unit had planned a number of sorties on 04 July 2017. One ALH of the unit tasked for the operation was being flown by Flt Lt Pramod Kumar Singh and his commanding officer Wing Commander Mandeep Singh Dhillon. The two pilots carried out sorties to rescue stranded people at Sagalee village following major landslides in Papum Pare district in Arunachal Pradesh. The pilots continued their missions despite inclement weather conditions as precious civilian lives had to be saved.

Flt Lt Pramod Kumar Singh and Wg Cdr Mandeep Singh Dhillon carried out 5 sorties during the day rescuing over 100 people trapped in remote areas. As the day progressed the weather deteriorated further making the task of the flying crew riskier. When Flt Lt Pramod Kumar Singh and Wg Cdr Mandeep Singh Dhillon came for their sixth sortie the weather had turned hostile to the extent that they decided not to take the civilians on-board and risk their lives. The ALH took off for the return journey only with flying crew but  the helicopter lost communication with the ground — the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Chabua in Assam, minutes after it took off from Sagalee village. It was evacuating people from Sagalee to the helipad at Naharlagun near Itanagar. The rescue teams of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Arunachal Pradesh Police were formed to trace the helicopter but the rescue operation was called off due to the bad weather. The wreckage of the helicopter was found on Wednesday 5 July 2017 in Sopo Yuha, near Hostalen village, about 30 Kms from Itanagar.

Flt Lt Pramod Kumar Singh, Wg Cdr Mandeep Singh Dhillon and flight Gunner Sgt Gujjar could not survive the crash and laid down their lives in the service of the nation. Flt Lt Pramod Kumar Singh is survived by his wife Sqn Ldr Aditi Jain who too served in the IAF as a short service commissioned officer and served the nation as her husband would have liked her to do.