Fighter pilot Abhinandan who crashed in Pakistan and shot down F-16 quits Indian Air Force, joins private airline
Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, famous for downing a Pakistani F-16 during a 2019 dogfight, has retired from the Indian Air Force. He has transitioned to a career in the private sector as a pilot for the regional airline Fly91.
Why it matters
The career move of a high-profile military figure highlights the transition of veteran personnel into the growing Indian civil aviation sector.
Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who was awarded Vir Chakra for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 during a dogfight over the Line of Control (LoC) on February 27, 2019, has quit the Indian Air Force and joined a private airline, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.He left the IAF on March 31 and later joined Fly91, a regional carrier, the officials said asking not to be named.From IAF to private airlineThe dogfight in which Abhinandan was involved took place a day after the IAF’s Mirage-2000s struck targets in Pakistan’s Balakot in response to the Pulwama suicide attack in Kashmir in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on February 14, 2019. He was a wing commander then. ALSO READ | Who is Shakti Sharma?
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