Shishir Tewari

Biography

Squadron Leader Shishir Tewari hailed from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force on 19 June 2010. Trained as a helicopter pilot, he passed out as part of the 185th Pilots' Course. On completing his training he was posted to field units, where he gained experience operating various types of aircraft during his early years of service. By 2017 he had matured into a competent helicopter pilot with expertise across a range of air operations, serving with a helicopter unit under the Eastern Air Command of the IAF that operated the Mi-17 transport helicopter, extensively used for air transport and logistics missions. In October 2017, Sqn Ldr Tewari was serving with 157 Helicopter Unit, equipped with the Mi-17 V5 and based at Air Force Station Barrackpore in West Bengal. At the time numerous Indian Army units were deployed in far-flung areas of the northeast sector where no motorable roads existed, and most of their supplies depended on airdrops carried out by the IAF as Air Maintenance operations. On 6 October 2017 he was detailed as co-pilot for one such air maintenance mission, with Wing Commander Vikas Upadhyay as captain, Master Warrant Officer A K Singh and Sergeant Satish Kumar as flight gunners, and Sergeant Gautam Kumar as flight engineer, along with two Army personnel, Sepoy H N Deka and Sepoy E Balaji. The Mi-17 V5 took off from Khirmu helipad in Tawang district carrying supplies for forward posts at Topokhar near the Yangste area. At around 6 AM, as supplies were being dropped some 120 km north of Tawang, 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. Sqn Ldr Shishir Tewari and all six others on board laid down their lives in the service of the nation.