New Delhi: The chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, flew his last sortie in an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft on Tuesday, taking a HJT-16 Kiran Mk-1 trainer into the air with the officer who taught him to fly more than four decades ago.
The 55-minute flight, in the aircraft with tail number U 707, was shared with Wing Commander V S Kochar (retired), the chief’s first flying instructor. The IAF described it as a reunion of teacher and student, taking the chief back to the start of his flying career.
Air Chief Marshal Singh flew his first-ever sortie on January 28, 1984. The Kiran flight, more than 40 years later, closes that journey where it began. The IAF said the occasion linked the memory of his first flight with the end of his flying career in the force's aircraft.
The sortie comes eight days after the air chief flew his last fighter sortie, in the indigenous Tejas, during the multinational Exercise Tarang Shakti at Jodhpur Air Force Station. Singh was a test pilot on the Tejas programme earlier in his career. Seven foreign nations took part in the exercise, held from September 26 to October 12.
Singh was commissioned into the IAF on December 21, 1984, and took over as the chief of the Air Staff on September 30, 2024. He has logged more than 5,000 flying hours. He retires on October 31.
The government has named the vice chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, as the next chief, in the rank of Air Chief Marshal. Dixit, who will be the 29th chief, takes charge on the afternoon of October 31 and is due to serve until December 31, 2028.
