Two Incidents, Capture of Indian War Planes by Pakistan
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A Black Mark for The IAF
Two Incidents that are Difficult to explain. Capture of IAF Planes by the Pakistan Air Force
The Air Forces of India and Pakistan have been involved in a number of operations against each other. Generally the battles between the two have been on equal terms, but two incidents that involved the surrender of intact planes to Pakistan must make the Indian Air Force bite its nails.
The first incident occurred on 24 April 1965. Flight lieutenant Rana Sidda took of from Jamnagar air base in the Kutch on a reconnaissance mission. He was piloting an Ouragan fighter aircraft. The plane was fully armed. The Ouragan was a French plane and had been given the Indian name of Toofani. But after a few minutes of flying Flight Lieutenant Rana Sidda saw two Pakistan Air force F-86 approach. Not much is known after that as the Indian pilot did not engage the PAF planes and chose to force land the plane in a field in Pakistan. This astounded the Indian top brass, who could not comprehend as to why Rana did not give battle to the PAF interceptors. Was it cowardice or something else?
The plane was captured intact by the PAF and the pilot made a POW. He was returned at the end of the war, while the plane was restored by PAF engineers and is now supposed to be displayed at the PAF museum at Peshawar.
The second incident concerns a Gnat interceptor of the IAF.This was piloted by Squadron Leader BS Sikand. While over Pakistan on an operational mission on 3 Sept 1965, he is reported to have seen a F104 star fighter. What ever the reason Sikand did the unthinkable and landed the aircraft at a disused airfield in Pakistan close to Lahore. This incident again shocked the Indian top brass. The gnat was captured intact by the PAF in a fully serviceable condition and then flown by PAF pilots. It is on display at the air force museum at Karachi.
Sikand was dismissed from the Indian Air Force but reinstated after the war due to political pressure. I would not like to add anything to that. But Flight lieutenant Rana was not so lucky and we haven’t heard about him after that incident
B Kesavachandran 3 months ago
He was Flt Lt Sikka based at Jamnagar.An Aux AF entrant he managed to get into regular service.How he strayed into Pakistan is a mystery as he was totally familiar with our airspace.That he did not put up a fight or try to evade capture proves he was more a coward than a traitor.