AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 154 of 167 only question they asked me was, “Why did you do it?” I thought it was rather funny, and explained that I was in a combat trying to keep up with my leader, went out of phase, and to get back into position I pulled full throttle and yanked back on the control column. They said that they were relieved that I was safe. They checked the Su-7, and cleared it for flying again. This is one mission I will never forget. Fortunately, despite pulling 13-G the aircraft was not grounded, and I continued to fly it. But things were not all rosy with the Su-7, as it was involved in several accidents. As airmen we are aware that accidents can happen, some unfortunate, some avoidable, and some despite a high degree of professionalism. Let me recount two cases. The first is the case of Flight Lieutenant Macsudan, who was training to be a Wingman in a tactical formation. On that fateful day, the leader and Macsudan were doing low-level tactical flying over a lake, practicing turns. In one such turn, Macsudan, as Wingman, was on the inside and turning right. As he was concentrating on maintaining his position with his leader who was also doing the turn, Macsudan kept turning without realising that his aircraft was sliding, and at one point the right wing hit the water. Before he realized his mistake the aircraft toppled over and exploded not giving him a chance to eject. It took several days to pull the massive burnt fuselage out of the lake. The second case involved three experienced pilots, Squadron Leader Trevor Osman, who led the tactical formation with Flight Lieutenant Boman Irani as his Wingman, and Flight Lieutenant Suresh Apte as Number Three. They were flying a low-level tactical sortie when Boman’s aircraft had a bird-hit! He managed to immediately pull up, but all he could transmit was, “I can’t see, I can’t see!” Trevor quickly ordered Suresh Apte to peel off and return to base, and told Boman, “Don’t worry if you can’t see. I can see you and will guide you to land,” assuming the windscreen had been damaged by the bird-hit. Trevor kept prompting Boman on when to reduce power, when to use the flaps, when to lower the gear, and eventually brought him down for a safe landing, after advising Boman to switch off the engine on touchdown. This whole procedure was carried out calmly, in a highly professional manner and Boman landed the bird-hit Su-7 safely. By then help had arrived for Boman. Trevor landed soon after and rushed to Boman. He was shocked at what he saw. Boman’s right eye was literally hanging out! That is what he had meant in his SOS message when he said, “I can’t see!” Trevor was speechless, but regained his composure soon. “When he said he couldn’t see, I assumed the bird-hit had blocked his vision. Had I known it was his eye that had lost, I don’t know if I would have continued the way I did.” Luckily his left eye was unaffected, which helped Boman to land the giant Su-7 safely with his right eye hanging out!