Pilla Venkata Narayana Ravi Prasad, VM

Biography

Sergeant Pilla Venkata Narayana Ravi Prasad was born on 15 August 1965 at Elvru in Andhra Pradesh. He joined the Indian Air Force on 18 January 1985 at the age of twenty, and in 1994 received specialised training to become a flight gunner. An enthusiastic and energetic flyer, he accumulated 1,200 hours of accident and incident-free flying. A confident and dedicated member of aircrew, he took part in various air operations during his service career. By May 1999, large-scale infiltration backed by the Pakistani army had been detected in the Uri, Batalik and Dras sectors, and the armed forces were tasked with clearing the intruders. On 28 May 1999, Sergeant Prasad served as the flight gunner aboard an Mi-17 helicopter of 152 Squadron, piloted by Flight Lieutenant S Muhilan, during an attack mission against enemy positions in the Dras sector. Facing intense ground fire and missiles, the crew pressed home repeated attacks until the helicopter was struck by a US-made Stinger surface-to-air missile. With no time for emergency manoeuvres, the aircraft crashed, and the entire crew was killed. Displaying exemplary courage under heavy enemy fire, Sergeant Prasad was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal.