Indian Air Force Chief Leads MiG-21 Missing Man Formation To Honour Kargil Martyr Sqd Ldr Ajay Ahuja

Indian Air Force Chief B S Dhanoa on Monday (27 May) paid a tribute to Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja who lost his life during the Kargil War conflict 20 years ago on 27 May 1999. IAF Chief Dhanoa was Squadron Leader Ahuja’s Commanding Officer (CO) back then.

He was joined by Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command Air Marshal R Nambiar. This is probably the first time the IAF Chief and AOC-in-C have flown together in a flypast.

A video of the missing man formation over the Air Force base in Bhatinda was shared by journalist Shiv Aroor.

On 27 May 1999, the IAF lost two jets at the hands of Pakistan. One was being flown by Flight Lieutenant Kambapati Nachiketa who was taken as a Prisoner of War (POW) by Pakistan and released seven days later.

Squadron Leader Ahuja was not so lucky and he was killed on the ground after ejecting from his MiG 21. Prior to his death, Ahuja was on a mission over the Batalik sector.