New Delhi. 15 August 2024. Wing Commander Jaspreet Singh Sandhu (29033) Flying pilot is on the posted strength of a fighter squadron. On 25 Jan 24, he was detailed to fly an Airframe and Engine Check sortie on Bison aircraft. After landing, on deployment of tail chute he experienced a vicious yaw to the right.
To correct for the same, when he applied left rudder, he experienced obstruction in movement of rudder pedal, leading to a unique aerodynamic control emergency. Actions for such a control related emergency have not been envisaged. The aircraft rudder, which enables directional control in air and is coupled with braking mechanism on ground, could not be pushed beyond neutral position towards the port side even with maximum manual effort.
The absence of effective directional control to port side and adverse cross wind conditions on landing roll resulted in aircraft drifting to starboard. Maintaining a calm composure, in a time critical high speed situation on landing roll, he took prompt actions of full brake application and switched off the aircraft. He successfully stopped the aircraft on right lane of the runway without any damage to the wheel brakes and tyres. Even a split second delay in any of the above mentioned actions could have led to a catastrophic outcome with the aircraft going out of runway and resulting in severe damage to the aircraft and potential injury to the pilot.
Post flight investigation revealed that, UHF antenna connector of main Radio was obstructing the link rod mechanism of rudder pedals in the Autopilot bay. Correct identification of directional control failure at a critical juncture and prompt superlative actions by the pilot ensured a safe recovery of a valuable air asset from an unprecedented challenging situation.
For the act of exceptional courage, Wing Commander Jaspreet Singh Sandhu is awarded ‘Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry)’.
