Samad Ali Changezi was a Flight lieutenant in

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

who fought in the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

. He belonged to the Hazara ethnic minority of

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

and was a member of the No. 9 Squadron – the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

's first fighter squadron. He remains among the few confirmed aerial combat casualties involving the

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fi ...

.Davies 2014, pp. 85–87.

Service

Background

The first direct air-to-air combat engagements between an F-104 and a MiG-21 took place during the war. The first confirmed loss was that of Wing Commander

Mervyn Middlecoat Wing Commander Mervyn Leslie Middlecoat (6 July 1931 – 12 December 1971) was a Pakistani fighter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) who was involved in a number of aerial battles during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani wars, before being ...

over the

Gulf of Kutch The Gulf of Kutch is located between the peninsula regions of Kutch and Saurashtra, bounded in the state of Gujarat that borders Pakistan. It opens towards the Arabian Sea facing the Osman Gulf. It is about 50 km wide at the entrance bef ...

on 12–13 December 1971. Changezi, flying a Starfighter on loan from Jordan, was the second confirmed F-104 loss, when he was shot down by IAF MiG-21FLs of No. 29 Squadron. The IAF also claimed two additional PAF Starfighter kills that same day, one of which was the aircraft flown by Changezi's wingman, Squadron Leader Rashid Bhatti; the PAF claimed he returned without damage to Masroor.

Battle

On 17 December 1971, Changezi was on a sortie mission when he spotted two MiG-21FLs, heading for him, on his radar. He tried to maneuver himself between the two MiGs to use his M61 Vulcan gatling cannon, since the PAF jets were not equipped with

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prove ...

missiles. As he closed in, the second MiG fired two K-13 missiles, one of which hit him. He failed to eject and his crash was witnessed by Indian pilots.

Honors and awards

Changezi was shot down in his eleventh war sortie. For his valour and sacrifice, he was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat, the third-highest gallantry honour of Pakistan.

References

Pakistani people of Hazara descent Hazara military personnel People from Quetta Pakistan Air Force personnel Recipients of Sitara-e-Jurat 1971 deaths Year of birth missing Aviators killed by being shot down Pakistani military personnel killed in action {{pakistan-mil-bio-stub

Service

Background

Battle

Honors and awards

See also

References