‘Time To Go, Ram’: When An Indian Air Marshal Punched Out Of A Mirage 2000

On Saturday, 25 Feb 2012, I was driving to a work lunch when I got a phone call about a Mirage 2000H crash in central India. My source at the Gwalior Air Force Station, from where the fighter had taken off, told me the two pilots had ejected. When I heard who was in the front seat on the flight, I remember stopping my car on the side of the road, switching off my engine. It was Air Marshal Anil Chopra, then Air Officer (Personnel) at IAF HQ. As Commodore Commandant of the 1 Squadron ‘Tigers’, Air Marshal Chopra was on a general flying mission with the squadron commander, Wg Cdr Ram Kumar. Earlier published internally by the IAF in a flight safety journal, Air Marshal Chopra has been kind enough to allow me to reproduce his amazing first-hand account of the incident that made him, as he mentions in what follows, the world’s oldest person to eject from a fighter jet:
A Fighter Aircraft Ejection Over Chambal
By Air Marshal (Retd.) Anil Chopra
 
[There] was a big explosive thud behind the aircraft cockpit. Followed by a grinding churn of the turbine blades. Lights on the failure warning panel all of a sudden lit up. A variety of warning horns started blaring.The aircraft speed started washing off till we put her into a glide. We knew the time of reckoning had arrived. We were 11,000 feet over the Chambal ravines. The altitude was good enough to make a few attempts to re-crank the engine.
Just five minutes before, Wg Cdr Ram Kumar and I had taken off in a Mirage 2000 two-seater for a routine general flying mission. It was a blue sky and the weather was picture perfect. We were still in a climb towards the sector when that ‘it will never happen with me‘ happened. We immediately attempted a ‘hot’ and two ‘cold’ engine restarts (relights). The turbofan had slowed down and then seized. Years of training were under test. It would be the first ejection for both me and Wg Cdr Ram. We were both unnaturally cool, something later confirmed by cockpit recordings. There was time for us to quickly recollect and revise all checks before ejection, most importantly to tighten seat and helmet straps and lower our visors. While Ram was trying to get the engine going, I was monitoring our height loss. As we crossed below 4,000 ft above sea level, I gave the final call: “Ram, time to go, pull the handle”.
To pull the ejection handle is a difficult decision. The comfort and safety of the cockpit have taken many a crew into the ground. To eject at a very ripe age of 59 years plus has its own dynamics. The spine and the neck are most vulnerable. My full attention was on taking a posture to save these two very vital parts of an ageing man’s body.
Ram pulled the handle. The final event happened. Front canopy, rear canopy, rear pilot and front pilot is the sequence in which they go. The entire sequence from the pull of the handle to opening of the main parachute took exactly 2.6 seconds. In physical reality it is a timeline that appears never to end. I last remember having seen the front canopy cartridge fire to crack open the glass. Thereafter a rocket went off under my seat,instantly blacking me out. As the seat came out of the aircraft, a blast of air hit me. In this blacked out state, I could feel a tossing motion with considerable forces acting on my body. I could hear the sequential firing of a large number of cartridges/rockets. I could see stars flashing in the dark of my eyes. Then all of a sudden it was all quiet.
I guessed those dreaded 2.6 seconds were over. My eyes opened. The beautiful Chambal Ghatti with millions of earth mud mounds were below me. There was general peace. I had noted the location of a small patch of green which looked like a village for future use. Downward parachute motion appeared very slow. There was a severe pain in my right shoulder and I could not move that arm. Apparently it was injured. A few sheets of paper and a map were also floating down along with me. These were part of the check list and the map the pilots carry in their anti g-suit pockets for each sortie. Soon I saw Rams parachute nearby and I waved at him with a thumb up confirming all was okay, in actual signaling Thank God we are alive.
All of sudden Ram’s parachute came charging at me with his boots heading straight for my parachute canopy. It scared the hell out of me. I shouted to him to get away, not realizing I had a mask on and he couldn’t hear me. Then we pulled ourselves away by tugging at the rigging lines.
Finally the earth rushed towards me very quickly. With one hand not available, I could not have cushioned my landing by tugging at the chute straps. The parachute had a sideways motion because of the wind. I hit a mud mound with large force. These mounds are weather beaten and rock solid. But for my helmet and visor, my head would have been in pieces. In spite of the helmet there was profuse bleeding from my nose. There was acute pain in my shin. Still I was relieved that I was alive. In pain, I disconnected my parachute and the anti-G suit. I also tried to climb the mound to get a bird’s eye view of the surroundings and to look for Ram, but was in too much pain. I than shouted to see if Ram would hear me but later found he had landed nearly 450 meters away.
With an injured leg, the rule is don’t walk. But I was so keen to make human contact that I could not resist looking for a way out of the ravine. Luckily for me, after about 15 mins, which appeared to stretch on for eternity, some villagers appeared. My first question was to find out if someone had a mobile phone. For once I was most grateful for the mobile revolution. I borrowed a mobile which had lost all letters on its keys from overuse. That is also the first time I realized that I did not remember any phone numbers because all were stored in my own mobile which was lying at my take-off base. Memory can fail you at such a time. As luck would have it, I fluked to get the correct number of my son-in-law. He happened to be a die-hard civilian. It took me a few seconds to explain to him what an ejection was and what actually had happened and asked him to convey it to Air Force authorities. He did not have any of our Air Force numbers, but managed to get through to my staff officer. Three minutes later, the Gwalior Base Commander was in touch with me. A few minutes later I spoke to my wife who was also in Gwalior. Meanwhile a village elder tore his dhoti to make a shoulder sling to support my injured arm.
The search and rescue helicopter arrived within 20 minutes of the ejection. With the help of villagers, I had got my parachute opened up on top of the mound. In Chambal, you can see a colored object from miles. So the rescue crew homed in on me quickly. Only, it was difficult to find a landing ground near the ravines. Finally the SAR helicopter landed 300 meters away. Soon I was stretchered on. The pain was becoming unbearable while we waited for Ram to be brought in.
We are lucky that most military hospitals have helipads. On landing, the doctors took charge to prepare for my shoulder operation later that evening. Meanwhile the squadron boys and ladies accompanied by Ram’s wife and my wife arrived at the hospital. They carried flowers, cakes and champagne. It is very traditional to celebrate a new birthday at the earliest after an ejection. So still lying in bed in the ICU, they made us cut a cake and then went out to pop the bubbly. While we were being fed antibiotics through drips, we could hear the youngsters celebrating outside in the typical flier’s way.
Next morning, we were transported by air to the Army Research & Referral hospital in Delhi. The immediate medical procedures were over in next 3-4 days and I was ready to go home on long sick leave. I told them Air Marshals do not take such leave. Meanwhile someone informed me that I had set a record by being the first ever Air Marshal in the world to eject from a fighter plane. Not that one wants to set such records. The Guinness people also confirmed the same but obviously they wouldn’t create such a category lest someone try to break it.
The ‘Air Marshal’s ejection’ made headlines in all forms of media. Questions were raised by a few as to whether a pilot should be flying at my age. It was like questioning the logic of a leader leading from the front. These were the inherently meek guys. Much larger numbers in media supported the brave.
There are lessons to be learned from all incidents. In life, something can happen any day to anyone. Preparing emergency drills is critical. My advice to fighter crews: Always share work load between yourselves. One guy takes actions, the other calls out critical parameters like height and speed and other important information. Preparation for ejection can save a few bones. That may not always be possible. The helmet and boots are critical items. They also help during landing. Take a timely decision to eject if you have to. Let there be no doubt. Better safe than buried. Many injuries occur during landing and therefore one needs to prepare for it. Having a mobile phone helps and knowing a few numbers even more. Don’t lose your spirit of life after an ejection. Fulfill your dreams as you go along. Live a wholesome life. Lead from the front. Senior officers must fly.
P.S. Nearly a year after the incident, the Court of Inquiry confirmed that it was a material failure of two engine turbine blades. Who was responsible never did get clearly established. As a result of the injuries I sustained, I never flew again in the air force. I still don’t have the full use of my shoulder. And there’s still pain.

28 thoughts on “‘Time To Go, Ram’: When An Indian Air Marshal Punched Out Of A Mirage 2000”

  1. Great story…..sorry our brave pilots have to fly these junk planes. I wish we had the same men in hal, drdo and bureaucracy.

  2. I am told that South indians make better fighter pilots than the north indians….the north guys usually fly transport planes and helos.

  3. That is the problem with the indians….why do you need heroes in the first place, if the ground duty staff, the HAL and drdo guys did their job well these brave pilots need not lose their lives. One sukhoi-30 pilot died because his parachute harness broke because it was not shielded from sun and he fell to his death….india does not deserve to use such high-tech planes. Better fly jags and m2000 and mig21s

  4. Yay!
    Love Indian Air Force. Respect for our officer.
    God bless our fighters. They are simply awesome and best of the best.
    Jai Hind!

  5. Let's hope a Mirage-2000 doesn't crash now to add to the irony after the last post and the subsequent Su-30 crash.

    Just kidding…

  6. I am little perplexed by your recent articles glorifying the pilots who crashed valuable assets of Airforce . Expecially shocked when i read about the article where you featured a pilot who crash landed twice . When you recount their horrors or difficuilt times with accounts of supposedly malfunctioning equipment , one you are accidentely glorifying a bad instance as crashing a jet by mistake or not is not a very happy moment for our nation but a reminder of a dull combination of poor pilot training , man errors ,faulty maintenance and accident malfunction and is no way this situation should be received as a gallentary war medal effort .Simply ejecting to save ones life is not an extremely brave scenario as much as you are pointing out . The most sad thing is and you are bringing in a sense of deep distrust in the minds of anybody young who wants to serve his nation in air force for who would love to go with a confused and hopeless mind that death lurks around everywhere when a career should be offering them hope and valour … so please with all respect please donot have such frequent stories of crashes which are very disturbing even to read … I tender my appologies to any disrespect towards the relevant pilots .. The crashes in the indian airforce is making it loose credibility .. loosing one squadron of precious assets each year is somethign which should send shudders in our spine and no tbe happy about it . It puzzles me how our enemies like china and pakistan have a such good flying records .. their crashes are minimal and they are enhancing their sqadron levels everyyear … I wish we could arrest this slide else …

  7. As far as I remember, at the time of this incident we lost 1 more Mirage 2000 Trainer.

    Did the IAF order any replacements for the loss of these 2 jets????

  8. Wonder what Mr. Chopra has to say about the rotting Migs in the IAF, and the lives they've snuffed out.

    And what does he have to say about the Tejas ? Surely, its induction will REDUCE accidents significantly, won't it ?

  9. Let me tell you, in an actual event of war a mig-21 Bis and perhaps a retired (from attack role) Canberra or Hawker Hunter will play as much important role as these sukhois and m2000.

  10. Why does Pakistan which files similar old jets and now some Chinese jets do not have astounding crash rate as IAF.
    Chinese who make their own jets are also able to maintain them better
    it is time to back LCA

  11. In the last photo with the villager, the Air Marshall is wearing his aviator sunglasses at what seems like an evening or night setting! Funny 🙂 Our fighter pilots love to adopt western notion of fashion even when it looks absurdly unfashionable on them. I would suggest our fighters to create new fashion statements which suit our complexion and conditions and definitely try new styles of sunglasses, the aviators look obsolete.

  12. I have seen both these pilots…..they are one of the best and most professional fighter pilots we can ever have …… proud of u sir.

  13. I think the Defence Ministry should seek an explanation from the Air HQ about this accident.Just because you are the Commodore Commandant of the said squadron and an Air Marshal,doesn't mean that you can go on having joy-rides in frontline fighters and that is precisely what it was!It would have been acceptable, had it been the DG,Safety&Maintenance flying. This is tax-payers money.

  14. I am curious – this is the second story in which I've read the pilots call in their base about their ejection. Do the planes or seats not have any beacons (i.e. ELTs) to alert the concerned authorities regarding an ejection/crash?

  15. Truly proud of a great great officer and a great General. Bravo. Read it world by world 3 times. An amazing story of courage conviction and quick decision making, not giving up ever and making positive efforts till the very last. If you allow I'll make it a case study for my training modules. I would also like to answer a comment by an unknown author who has termed it as a joy ride, This is to inform you Mr Unknown that officers of this seniority and caliber do not sit in a fuckin junk box of a plane like a mirage for some stupid joy ride but as an exercise in motivating the young pilots. We all know that so many of the IAF birds need to be grounded but our country's economic condition, bad political will and pressing defence commitments force our engineers to keep them flying and our brave young officers to fly them and it is a great motivating gesture by someone the rank of a general to fly in these machines.

  16. Mr. Balwant Gurunay aka Guru

    There is nothing to feel proud in this case . Don't fortify the notion that every person flying these machines(specially Mirages) knows his game well.
    what was the outcome of court of inquiry…? never made public …! and there are all the reasons to believe the credibility of any such COI report.
    We are flying some thing for which we are capable of ,but these things should never be taken lightly. We have some of the best and the brave pilots for whom we are proud of, but these incidents undermines the image and credibility of a fighting force.
    What is the point in making it as case study. There is nothing wrong in ejecting from an ill fated aircraft but then the reason and the responsibility should be fixed honestly and sincerely. We can not just blame the machine and quote one or the other silly reason in favor of pilot. Turbine blades are not an old man's teeth which can get uprooted so easily.If the case was so then were the manufacturing agencies involved in inquiry…?
    With such biased inquiries we encourage pilots to take things lightly and this results in valuable loss of national assets and public money.
    We are a professional Air arm and can not get carried away with whims and fancies of any Hollywood movie where an out of touch and out of practice senior comes and try his hands at something for which he is not assigned of. What if he could have killed himself or the other pilot, it would have been an irrepaiable loss to the nation and to his family. Was he flying for the young pilots to show them his skills or was it just for fun sake? He may be a great pilots in his hay days but then every thing has its age and sharpness. By saying this I am not putting the blame on any of the pilots but I am replying to all those who thinks that each and every person stepping in the cockpit is an ace and its the only machine that is to blamed for any crash. Please dont get carried away with the false belief.

    Rakesh(IAF Veteran)

  17. An RAF Air Marshal has ejected from a Vulcan bomber as it was returning from a world tour as part of its introduction into service ceremonies…back in the 60s .And by a strange coincidence another IAF 2 seater Mirage crashed just a few days after this accident…and fortunately they also survived

  18. An RAF Air Marshal has ejected from a Vulcan bomber as it was returning from a world tour as part of its introduction into service demonstration flights…back in the 60s .And by a strange coincidence another IAF 2 seater Mirage crashed just a few days after this accident…and fortunately they also survived

  19. An RAF Air Marshal ejected from a Vulcan Bomber…back in the 60s as they were attempting a PAR approach in low visibility.He was the AOC in C of Strike Command…and returning from a world tour as part of the entry into service demonstration flights

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