Sahil Gandhi

Biography

Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi was born in Hisar, Haryana. He completed his schooling in Hisar and joined the National Defence Academy in 2000, affectionately known to family and friends as "Manu" and remembered as a focused, self-reliant and disciplined child. He developed into a professionally competent fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force, serving at various front-line air bases and gaining experience on multiple combat aircraft, including the state-of-the-art multi-role Sukhoi-30, Mirage 2000 and MiG-21. He also served as a flying instructor, training young trainee pilots. Selected for his exceptional skills, he trained on Hawk aircraft in the United Kingdom for two years before their induction into the IAF. In 2017 he joined 52 Squadron at Air Force Station Bidar — the prestigious Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) — comprising the IAF's finest and most highly skilled pilots. In 2019 he was chosen for the team participating in the Aero India show at Bengaluru. On 19 February 2019, during practice for the show, two Hawk jets lost control mid-air during a spin manoeuvre and collided at around 1150 hours. While two pilots ejected with minor injuries, Wing Commander Sahil sustained grievous injuries and made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.