Watch: The IAF honoured Surya Kiran pilot killed in crash with the 'Missing Man' formation
The memorial fly-past for Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi was led by a Sukhoi-30 fighter, flanked by a Jaguar and a Tejas light combat aircraft.
#MissingMan formation was flown, today, led by Su-30MKI at Yelahanka as a tribute to Wg Cdr Sahil Gandhi, who was martyred during a rehearsal sortie on 19 Feb 19. Followed by a slow speed pass by #Rafale, as a salute to #Braveheart.
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) February 20, 2019
'You will be missed, blue skies to you always' pic.twitter.com/5ofzzb1Ofx
Indian Air Force fighter jets paid tribute to Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi, who lost his life in Tuesday’s mid-air crash of two Surya Kiran planes, by flying in a “Missing Man” formation on Wednesday.
The memorial fly-past at Yelahanka, Bengaluru, was led by a Sukhoi-30 fighter, followed by a Jaguar and a Tejas light combat aircraft. “The formation pays tribute to the fallen pilot,” former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Major told Hindustan Times. “If he was alive, he would have been flying too in the finger four formation,”
The formation is a part of a fly-past by aircraft, performed in order to honour a fallen pilot, veteran or sometimes a politician.
Gandhi, a member of the Surya Kiran aerobatics team, died on Tuesday when two of the nine Hawk Mk 132 aircraft being flown by the team collided mid-air and crashed. The accident occurred during a rehearsal for the biennial Aero India air show’s 2019 edition.