Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

Suhas Biswas, AC (9 September 1924 – 1 September 1957) was an Officer in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

who was the first Air Force Officer to be awarded the

Ashoka Chakra Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

, India's highest peacetime military award, in the year of 1953.

Early life

Suhas Biswas was born in a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

family in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, the son of Samuel Biswas and Diana Biswas. After completing his education Biswas joined the Indian Air Force as a pilot in 1944 and became a commissioned officer.

Credits

In 1952 Biswas was working in a Communication Flight unit in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

. On 3 February 1952 senior army officials were returning to

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

after an official visit. Biswas was in control of their aircraft. Soon after it took off a crew member observed an engine malfunction; subsequently a fire broke out. Biswas first tried to extinguish it, but it was getting difficult to control the aircraft. He decided to attempt a forced landing, and made a belly landing at

Sandila Sandila is a town and nagar palika parishad in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It serves as a tehsil headquarters within the district. Located midway between Hardoi and Lucknow, Sandila is a well-connected town with roads le ...

village located in Uttar Pradesh and successfully saved the lives of all the passengers. Biswas was awarded the Ashoka Chakra, (India Highest Peacetime Military Decoration) for his extraordinary example of Valour, Courageous Actions, intelligence and rationality.

Death

Biswas died in a crash on 1 September 1957 while he was flying a Dakota aircraft towards

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

on an operational mission. The aircraft crashed in

Nilgiri mountains The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

range.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biswas, Suhas 1924 births 1957 deaths Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration) Indian Air Force officers Indian aviators Indian Christians People from Kolkata Ashoka Chakra