Operation Swift Retort: IAF officer sacked for downing own chopper in 2019

ISLAMABAD: The General Court Martial (GCM) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) has ordered the dismissal of Group Captain Suman Roy Chowdhury, who was the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Srinagar Air Force Station, for firing a missile and shooting down an IAF Mi-17 helicopter on February 27, 2019.

This happened during the PAF’s Operation Swift Retort when Pakistan Air Force shot down two intruding IAF fighter planes and captured Wing Commander Abhi Nandan in the aftermath of the botched Indian action on Balakot. But in the resulting confusion, the IAF friendly fire on its helicopter resulted in the death of six airmen and a civilian.

On March 20, the Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed the GCM to pronounce the findings against Group Captain Chowdhury but ordered that those must not be given effect till the disposal of the case, filed by the officers seeking relief from disciplinary action. The high court is yet to dispose of the case.

There was controversy about the accidental shooting down of the helicopter on February 27, 2019, after the IAF kept the information under wraps, ostensibly because of the impending Lok Sabha elections. A report by an Indian defence commentator said that the Court of Inquiry had “conclusively determined” that the Mi-17 V5 helicopter was brought down by friendly fire. The commentator said the IAF has been asked to “hold” the findings until after the elections. While the IAF denied pressure, it moved to take action against errant officers just two days after the final phase of voting for the elections.

Those who died in the helicopter included pilots Squadron Leader S. Vashisht and Squadron Leader Ninand M, Sergeant V.K. Pandey, Sergeant Vikrant Sahrawat, Corporal Pankaj Kumar, Corporal D. Pandey and a Kashmiri Muslim Kifayat Hussain Ghani, who was a civilian on the ground and resident of Budgam district.

Group Captain Chowdhury’s counsel, Captain Sandeep Bansal (R), had argued in the GCM that “the Group Captain moved an application on April 5 for not proceeding with the pronouncement of the sentence till the matter was disposed of by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But on the advice of Judge Advocate, the GCM proceeded ahead. We will challenge it before the High Court.”

According to the rules, the Chief of Air Staff has to give approval on the recommendation of the GCM for sacking the officer. The sources said the order of the GCM will be put up before the IAF chief after a decision by the court.

Wing Commander Shyam Naithani, who was the Senior Air Traffic Control Officer at that time, has been acquitted of four charges and has received a severe reprimand for one charge. The helicopter was struck by the IAF’s surface-to-air missile when the chopper was on its way back to held Srinagar on the day IAF and PAF were engaged in a dogfight, according to the Court of Inquiry (CoI).

The sources said that GC Chaudhary is bound to be punished on account of the incident. The Court of Inquiry found that the Mi-17 V-5 helicopter was hit by a ground-based missile. Chowdhury has been held guilty on five out of the nine charges. He is held guilty of not obeying the general order issued by Air Headquarters, dated July 14, 2017, which required all aircraft operating north of latitude 3200 N to operate with Identification Friend or Foe (IFF). He permitted Mi-17 to get airborne from Srinagar without the IFF switched on. He was also held guilty of assigning an inbound flying object to the missile unit at 10:10am on February 27, 2019, at 23-km from the Srinagar base for engagement by the Mission Commander, Command and Control Unit of 2258 Squadron. Consequently, the assigned flying target, which was the IAF’s own helicopter Mi-17, was shot down by a Spyder missile at 10:14am. The firing caused a loss of Rs133.31 crore to the Indian state.