Vikas Upadhyay

Biography

Wing Commander Vikas Upadhyay hailed from Dwarka in New Delhi and was born in 1981. He completed his initial training at the National Defence Academy as part of the 102nd Course before proceeding to the Air Force Academy for further training. He was commissioned into the Indian Air Force in June 2003 and trained as a helicopter pilot, passing out with the 171st Pilots' Course. In his early years of service he was posted to field units, where he gained experience operating various types of aircraft. By 2017, Wg Cdr Upadhyay had evolved into an accomplished helicopter pilot with expertise across a range of air operations. He was serving with 157 Helicopter Unit, based at Air Force Station Barrackpore in West Bengal and operating the Mi-17 V5 helicopter under the Eastern Air Command. Many Indian Army units were deployed in far-flung areas of the northeast where no motorable roads existed, and their supplies depended heavily on airdrops carried out by the IAF as Air Maintenance operations. On 6 October 2017, Wg Cdr Upadhyay was tasked as captain of one such air maintenance mission. With Squadron Leader Shishir Tewari as co-pilot and a crew that included Master Warrant Officer A K Singh, Sergeant Satish Kumar, Sergeant Gautam Kumar, and two Army personnel aboard, his Mi-17 V5 took off from Khirmu helipad in Tawang district to drop supplies at forward posts near the Yangste area, about 120 km north of Tawang. As supplies were being offloaded at the dropping zone, the net holding jerry cans of kerosene became entangled in the aircraft's rear rotor. The helicopter caught fire instantly and crashed, leaving the pilots no chance to react. Wg Cdr Vikas Upadhyay and all six others on board laid down their lives in the service of the nation.