Notes

Nothing personal: 2 pilot couples attend call of duty

SQUADRON Leaders S K Pradhan and Khushboo
Gupta fly long hours through the day, negotiating
the treacherous terrain and fickle weather to
rescue the stranded people in flood-ravaged
Uttarakhand. It is only in the evening that the two
IAF pilots — married for the past four years — get
time to catch up. But they are not complaining.
They say they are here to do their job of saving
precious lives, and keep a vow with the IAF.
The Squadron Leaders are among the two IAF
couples involved in the rescue operations in the
flood-affected areas of the state. The other couple
— Squadron Leader Vikram Thiagaraman and
Flight Lieutenant Tanya Srinivas — got married
only last year.

Together, they have have flown more than 100
hours so far to rescue stranded men, women and
children amidst the tragedy unfolding in the
devastated areas. While the husbands fly the heavy
lift Mi-17 choppers, the wives pilot the Cheetahs.
This is the first first time that the two pilot couples
are operating together for a similar task.
“Well the only thing probably that makes us special
is that we have the most important vow to keep
with the IAF. We never thought we would be
together on this mission,” Pradhan said just as his
wife was readying for a sortie to Rudraprayag.
Flight Lieutenant Tanya Srinivas said she was
eager to being a part of the rescue operations. “It
was so nice when I found I was also coming for the
operation. But we have been trained to keep work
and personal life apart. That keeps us taking to the
skies comfortably,” Srinivas, who met her husband
in the IAF, said.

Every time her husband takes to the air, and she is
not engaged in an operational briefing, Srinivas
makes sure she gives him a ‘thumbs up’.
While Pradhan is “comfortable and confident”
even when his wife flies through dangerous
terrains, Thiagaraman said he just wishes his
better half good luck as he knows she is a top notch
pilot.

Salute To Both the pilots of IAF..... Jay Hind.....