After retiring from IAF, legendary pilot Abhinandan Varthaman takes cockpit seat at Fly91

Former Indian Air Force Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, whose name came to be closely associated with the 2019 aerial combat with Pakistan and his return after being held there for nearly 60 hours, has joined regional carrier Fly91 as a pilot, according to a PTI report citing sources and officials aware of the matter.

Varthaman, a Vir Chakra awardee, joined the airline as a pilot in August, the sources said. Officials said he left the IAF on March 31 before moving to the private airline.

From IAF to private airline

Varthaman, then a wing commander, was involved in a dogfight over the Line of Control on February 27, 2019, 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 personnel were killed on February 14, 2019.

Officials said Abhinandan, then 35, scripted military aviation history by downing a Pakistani F-16 seconds before his own MiG-21 Bison was hit by a missile, forcing him to eject. Experts then hailed it as the first ever kill of an F-16 by a MiG-21 Bison, fighter jets of two different generations.

He was captured after he bailed out of his aircraft, but Pakistan returned him to India on March 1, 2019, after holding him captive for almost 60 hours.

Vir Chakra award and citation

Varthaman was honoured with the Vir Chakra award in 2021. Vir Chakra is India's third-highest wartime gallantry award, after Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra.

His citation, published in the Gazette of India in December 2019, said he courageously engaged the Pakistani aircraft package despite its "immense numerical and technological superiority," and that his aggressive manoeuvres forced the enemy aircraft into tactical chaos.

The citation said that in February 2019, Abhinandan was posted with a MiG-21 Bison squadron and was on "operational readiness platform" duty at air force station Srinagar when a large Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft package was detected heading towards the LoC. He was scrambled to intercept this package five minutes after it was detected.

It said he pursued a retreating enemy fighter aircraft and in the ensuing aerial combat, shot down an F-16. "However, in the melee, one of the enemy aircraft fired multiple advanced BVR missiles, one of which hit his aircraft forcing him to eject in enemy territory," the citation said.