Service No : 23559 F(P)
Date of Birth : November 29, 1973
Place of birth : Jaipur Dist (Raj)
Last Rank : Wing Commander
Arm/Regt : Indian Air Force
Martyrdom : August 30, 2012
Wing Commander Vikram Singh
Wing Commander Vikram Singh hailed from Jaipur district in Rajasthan and was born on 29 Nov 1973. Son of an Army officer, he came from a military family wherein, besides his father, his elder brother also served in the Army. Inspired by his father, he developed a strong desire to join the armed forces right from his childhood. Eventually, he got selected for the Indian Air Force and got trained as a pilot. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on 17 Jun 1995 at the age of 21 years. Having been inducted into the flying stream of the IAF, he got trained as a helicopter pilot as part of the 155th Pilots' Course. After completing his multi-stage flying training, he joined an operational squadron and thereafter served at various Air Force bases.
After serving for some time, he got married to Ms Taruna Singh a serving officer from the Administrative branch of the IAF and the couple had a son Varun. By 2012, he had put in about 17 years of service and had evolved into a professionally competent helicopter pilot with expertise in various air operations. He also had the distinction of serving in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Congo as part of the Indian contingent.
Live Firing Air Mission: 30 Aug 2012
During Aug 2012, Wg Cdr Vikram Singh was undergoing the 'Helicopter Combat Leaders'' course conducted by 'Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment '(TACDE), the elite training establishment of the IAF based at Gwalior. The pilots were required to undertake complex and challenging air missions as part of the course to develop into combat leaders. One such air mission was planned on 30 Aug 2012, with two Mi-17 helicopters. Wg Cdr Vikram Singh was tasked with this mission along with Wg Cdr Sameer Saxena in one Mi-17 helicopter (Z-3089) and Sqn Ldr V Manoj Nair & Wg Cdr Wg Cdr Asheesh Sharma in another Mi-17 helicopter (Z-2904). Both the helicopters took off as planned in the late morning on 30 Aug 2012 along with other aircrew from Jamnagar Air Force base. They were required to fly in "close formation" for the mission, which was an air-to-ground bombing mission over the Sarmat range near Jamnagar IAF base.
However as they reached near the Sarmat range, the rotors of the two helicopters which had taken off loaded with bombs and rockets accidentally got entangled and resulted in a mid-air collision at about 12.05 pm. As a result, one chopper went down immediately and the other went into a spin after its tail rotor snapped and crashed. The Russian-origin Mi-17-1V helicopters involved in the mid-collision were also not too old. The sturdy Mi-17s, used both for bombing missions and troop transportation, were the main workhorses of IAF ever since 50 of them were first inducted in the mid-1980s. The tragic air crash proved fatal for Wg Cdr Vikram Singh and other aircrew. Besides Wg Cdr Vikram Singh, the other eight brave hearts, who lost their lives included Wg Cdr Asheesh Sharma, Wg Cdr Sameer Saxena, Sqn Ldr Manoj V Nair, Fg Offr Sreejith Maloor, JWO Murugan, Sgt AK Patel, Sgt RK Rana, and Sgt RP Sahni. Wg Cdr Vikram Singh was a committed soldier and a professionally competent air warrior, who laid down his life at the age of 39 years in the service of the nation.
Wg Cdr Vikram Singh is survived by his wife, Gp Capt Taruna Singh, and son Varun.
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