Major A Jayanth

Major A Jayanth hailed from Jeyamangalam village in Periyakulam taluk of Theni district in Tamil Nadu. Son of Shri Arumugam and Smt Mallika, Maj Jayanth was the only son of his parents and spent most of his childhood in Madurai in Tamil Nadu. He did his schooling form Seventh Day Adventist School in Ellis Nagar and later joined Saraswathi Narayan College in Perungudi to complete his graduation in Mathematics. But he always nursed the dream of joining the army right since his younger days and joined the NCC during his student days. It was in NCC that the foundation of his future military career was laid and it further strengthened his resolve to don the army uniform. Eventually, he got selected to join the army in the year 2010 and passed out as a Lieutenant in the year 2011. He  was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery, an important combat support arm of the Indian Army well known for its heavy field guns. 

Later he opted for the Army Aviation Corps and got trained as a helicopter pilot. He earned his wings in 2016 and completed his basic Army Aviation Course from Jhansi and Advance Army Aviation Course from Nahisk. After serving for a couple of years, he got married to Ms Chella Sharadha of Dindigul in the year 2018.  By the year 2023, he had been promoted to the rank of Major and had developed into a professionally competent Helicopter pilot with expertise in various air operations. 

Cheetah Helicopter Air Mission : 16th Mar 2023

During Mar 2023, Maj Jayanth was serving with an Army Aviation Sqn based in Assam. The Squadron was operating Cheetah helicopter, a single-engine helicopter, of 1970s vintage and derived from the French Alouette. The Cheetah Helicopter was known to be a high-performance helicopter designed for operation over a very wide range of weight, the center of gravity and altitude conditions. The five-seater Cheetah helicopter was versatile, multi-role, multi-purpose, highly maneuverable and rugged in construction.  It was suitable for commuting, observation, surveillance, logistics support, rescue operations and high altitude missions. Maj Jayanth and his Captain, Lt Col VVB Reddy were tasked for one such high-altitude mission on 16 Mar 2023. The crew took off in their Cheetah Helicopter to carry out the assigned task as per the operational plan.  

As the Helicopter was en-route from Missamari in Assam to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, it developed a serious snag that the aircraft became uncontrollable. Maj Jayanth and Lt Col VVB Reddy were experienced pilot with substantial flying experience but did not get adequate time to bring the aircraft under control. Consequently, the cheetah Helicopter crashed near Mandala in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.  A massive rescue operation was launched by the Army along with the personnel of Seema Suraksha Bal and Police.  However Maj Jayanth and Lt Col VVB Reddy got severely injured during the crash and later succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. Maj Jayanth was a committed soldier and a competent pilot, who laid down his life in the line of his duty. 

Maj A Jayanth is survived by his father Shri Arumugam, mother Smt Mallika, and wife Smt Chella Sharadha.