Chandigarh, November 9
It was a trip down the memory lane for aircrew that had flown the AN-12 aircraft, once the workhorse of the IAF’s transport fleet, as they got together for a reunion here today.
A large number of pilots, navigators, flight engineers and technical officers attended the event along with their spouses. Among them were several veterans of the 1971 Indo-Pak war as well as widows of officers.
Among the senior-most officers present were Air Marshal AK Goel and Air Vice Marshal HP Singh. Besides other places in India, a few officers now settled overseas especially reached here for the reunion.
Procured from Russia in 1961, the Antonov AN-12 was a four-engine turbo-prop that had maintained the vital air bridge to Ladakh for over three decades, besides performing other transport and communication duties.
AN-12s were used to rush reinforcements to Ladakh during the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict. They took part in the famous para-drop at Tangail during the 1971 war and were also used as bombers. AN-12s also undertook sorties during the Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka and the Operation Cactus in the Maldives in the late 1980s.
The aircraft served with No 25 Squadron, earlier based at Chandigarh, and No 44 Squadron, now based in the city, both of which were raised on AN-12s. These were formally retired in June 1993, with the last sortie from Chandigarh to Air Force Museum at Palam in New Delhi being flown by Wg Cdr Satish Bhatia (retd).