Flt Lt Mohit Kumar Garg

Flt Lt Mohit Kumar Garg hailed from Samana town in the Patiala district of Punjab and was born in the year 1992. Son of Shri Surinder Garg and Smt Sulakshna Garg, he completed his school education from Punjab Public School at Nabha in Punjab. After completing his schooling on a scholarship, he got selected for the prestigious National Defence Academy.

He was was commissioned as a flying pilot in the IAF on 21 June 2014. He was trained as a transport pilot as part of the 193 Pilots' Course. He soon gained proficiency in flying various types of transport aircraft and was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant on 21 June 2016.  After serving for few years Flt Lt Mohit Kumar Garg got married to Ms Aastha, a banker from Jalandhar in Feb 2018. 

AN-32 Crash (Indo-China Border): 3rd Jun 2019

During Jun 2019, Flt Lt Mohit Kumar Garg was serving with 43 Sqn AF based in Air Force station Jorhat in Assam. The Sqn was operating AN-32 twin-engine turboprop transport aircraft and was undertaking various air operations including critical logistic support operations for the army troops deployed in far-flung and inaccessible areas of the Northeast. On 3rd Jun 2019, Flt Lt Mohit Kumar Garg along with his 7 other crew members was tasked for an air support operation. The crew members of the aircraft included Wg Cdr G M Charles, Sq Ldr H Vinod, Flt Lt Sunit Mohanty, Flt Lt Ashish Tanwar & Flt Lt Rajesh Thapa, Warrant Officer KK Mishra and Sergeant Anoop Kumar S. As per the assigned task, the aircraft was to take off from Jorhat IAF base and land at Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh.

Flying in an area with a stretch of deep valleys and high mountains demanded a very high level of flying skills and Wg Cdr G M Charles and other aircrew had the requisite experience and professional expertise to undertake various air operations in the area. As planned the aircraft with 8 crew members and 5 passengers took off from Jorhat at 12:27 pm and lost contact with ground control at 1 pm about 33 minutes after takeoff. The aircraft eventually crashed and the wreckage of the aircraft was found near Pari hills close to Gatte village, 16 km north of Lipo in Arunachal Pradesh, at an elevation of 12,000 feet. The wreckage was recovered 8 days after the crash following a massive rescue operation launched by the security forces. Besides the employment of the Indian Army, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the state police forces, IAF deployed a fleet of Sukhoi-30, C-130J, AN-32 aircraft, MI-17 and ALH helicopters for the rescue operation. Unfortunately Flt Lt Mohit Kumar Garg and all other crew members could not survive the crash and were martyred. Flt Lt Mohit Kumar Garg was an accomplished transport pilot and a committed air warrior who laid down his life in the line of his duty at the age of 27 years.

Flt Lt Mohit Kumar Garg is survived by his father Shri Surinder Garg, mother Smt Sulakshna Garg, wife Smt Aastha Garg and brother Shri Ashwani Garg.