PHOTOS: MiG-21 Pilot Gets Final Sendoff


The mortal remains of the Flying Officer Suraj Pillai of the Indian Air Force, who was killed in a MiG-21 crash on August 2, were brought to Naval Air Station Kochi (INS Garuda) at 5:15AM today. His body was then taken to Aluva near Kochi where it was cremated with military honours. Flg Offr Pillai was 24 years old. R.I.P., brother.

PHOTO 1: The Mortal Remains of Flying Officer Suraj Pillai being transported from the IAF Aircraft at INS Garuda. PHOTO 2: Captain Himanshu Sapre, Commanding Officer INS Garuda paying respects at INS Garuda. PHOTO 3: The Final Military Honours for Flying Officer Suraj Pillai.
Courtesy Cdr Roy Francis / DPR
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22 thoughts on “PHOTOS: MiG-21 Pilot Gets Final Sendoff”

  1. We just let these guy die, for somehting we could have avoided…. Can anyone tell me what was the cause of accident??? I know Suraj was not a tenured pilot.. Is it the machine or the man????

  2. I want to state the obvious here;

    This young and brave man died in part because of the direct result of the failure of the scientists behind the LCA and the basic trainer projects. Had the LCA project been completed on time, had the scientists been more capable, smarter, this young man perhaps would have been able to at the very least eject safely.

    The people at HAL need to realize that their job has life and death consequences. They can't afford to take their own sweet time. If they are incapable they should at least have the decency to step aside.

  3. the problem isn't just with the scientists at HAL. the tejas project had very little support both politically and financially. politicians seem to be interested in large foreign deals as they can run scams on these deals rather easily.

  4. My salute to the brave parents who produce such sons . The country has survived because of them.

    My salute to Dr. Manmohan Singh. He has given an altogether new meaning to shamelessness.

    My salute to our famed technicians and scientists. Mir Jafar and Jaichand pale in comparison

  5. Goddamn…its time to retire these relics/artifacts. Its a damn national shame for India to field such anicent aircraft. RIP my malu brother

  6. RIP. My salute to the best boys of the nation and those politicians, babus sitting in air conditioned rooms doing nothing can go to hell.

  7. Why does every body keep talking about LCA ? Why dont we accept the fact that despite tall talk it is nothing but hot air , a ploy to keep the HAL population on the job – the country be damned.

    Mig 21 can be replace immediately with Mig 29M / Mig 35 variants or with Gripen both in their air defense avatars. In next five years we can have at least 4 to 6 squadrons instead of waiting for Tejas Mk. 3/4/5/6/7/.

    Marshal Brown should show some initiative instead of admiring Antony's backside.

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