Wing Commander Hanumanth Rao Sarathi

Wing Commander Hanumanth Sarathi hailed from Ganeshpura in Belgaum district of Karnataka and was born on October 28, 1987. Son of an army veteran Hony Capt Revansiddappa Sarathi, he had a brother Praveen Sarathi as his sibling.  He had a strong desire to serve in the Armed forces right from his childhood, like his father. He completed his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya- No 2 in Belgaum. Following his passion, he got selected for the prestigious NDA after his school education. During his NDA tenure he excelled in various aspects of training and got selected for the flying branch in Indian Air Force.

Having been inducted into the flying stream of the IAF, he got trained as a fighter pilot. After completing his multi-stage flying training, he joined the operational squadron and thereafter served at various Air Force bases. After serving for few years he got married to Ms Mimansha and the couple had a daughter and a son. By 2023, he had put in about 14 years of service and had evolved into a professionally competent fighter pilot with expertise in various air operations. 

During Jan 2023, Wg Cdr Hanumanth Sarathi was serving as an instructor at Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) a premier institute of the IAF located at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. During peacetime training is one of the most important activities of IAF which helps it to remain prepared to take on any eventuality. A war-like situation is created in the air for the pilots to practice and remain updated.  Wg Cdr Hanumanth Sarathi as an instructor at TACDE was responsible to train other pilots in complex air combat operations. After joining the unit he had undertaken a number of air combat training missions in day as well as night. On 28 Jan 2023,  Wg Cdr Hanumanth Sarathi was tasked to undertake another such mission along with two other pilots. The training air combat mission was a mission involving a Mirage 2000 flown by Wg Cdr Hanumanth Sarathi and Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft flown by two other pilots.  As planned the mission took off from Gwalior airbase after completing the necessary operational checks on the ground.

However during the mission due to inexplicable reasons, Sukhoi-30MKI and Mirage-2000 aircraft apparently collided in the mid air.  The crashed seemed to have occurred over Pahargarh area in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. As an emergency measure the two pilots in Sukhoi-30MKI ejected and were rushed to the hospital for medical treatment. However Wg Cdr Hanumanth Sarathi could not survive the crash and succumbed to his injuries. Wg Cdr Hanumanth Sarathi was a committed soldier and a gallant air warrior, who laid down his life in the service of the nation at the age of 35 years.

Wg Cdr Hanumanth Rao Sarathi is survived by his father Capt Revansiddappa Sarathi (Retd), wife Smt Mimansha, daughter, son and brother Gp Capt Praveen Sarathi (currently serving in Indian Air Force).