Suranjan Das (22 February 1920 – 10 January 1970) was a pilot 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 ...

. He joined the Royal Indian Air Force during the Second World War and was among the first pilots to be sent to Empire Test Pilots School to a test pilot for the Indian Air Force. He was a

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

. He commanded the Halwara Air Force Station Base between 1967 and 1969 and was the director of the Aircraft & Armament Testing Group of the Indian Air Force from 1969 until his death. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in 1970. He was the son of Sudhi Ranjan Das. He died in an air crash while test flying a

HAL HF-24 The HAL HF-24 Marut ("Spirit of the Tempest") was an Indian fighter-bomber aircraft of the 1960s. Developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with Kurt Tank as lead designer. The Project Engineer from HAL was George William Benjamin. It i ...

prototype. The entire 4.1-km stretch of the road connecting Old Madras Road and Old Airport Road, Bangalore, is named

Suranjan Das Road Suranjan Das Road is a road in Bengaluru, India. It runs from Old Madras Road at one end to Old Airport Road at the other. History The road was built in the 1940s to connect Old Airport Road ''Old Airport Road'' is the second solo album ...

after Group Captain Suranjan Das.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Suranjan 1920 births 1970 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Das family of Telirbagh Indian Air Force officers Indian military aviators Indian test pilots Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1970 Victims of flight test accidents