Dead pilot’s family tweets go viral

By Gautam Datt

New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) "We give our warriors outdated machines to fight, they still deliver it with all their prowess and might," goes a viral message in the name of Garima Abrol, wife of squadron leader Samir Abrol who died in a Mirage 2000 crash along with his colleague Siddharth Negi.

But Samir's brother Sushant clarified to IANS on Tuesday that it was he who penned the message not her. He said that he was overcome by emotions while flying back with his brother's coffin and it was a comment on the system in general with no reference to anyone specific.

"Never had he breathed so heavy, as for the last time, while the bureaucracy enjoyed its corrupt cheese and wine," read the message, but Sushant said that the word 'corrupt' has been taken in a wrong sense.

He said there were eight other officers on that flight and he saw tears in their eyes as they were my brother's course mates who had spent all the time with him.

"I realised it could have happened with one of them also," he said. It is not the family's loss but loss for the air force, for his friends, he said. "What I wrote was in the flow of things," he said.

Sushant said the family is awaiting the outcome of the court of inquiry report of the accident to know about the causes and are with the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Abrol and Negi were highly trained Aircraft&Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) test pilots.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the families of the two pilots on Tuesday to express her condolences.

The accident has brought HAL under an accountability cloud. The aircraft was upgraded by HAL and was on an acceptance sortie.

Talking about his brother, Sushant said he opted to become a test pilot which is five times riskier than a normal fighter pilot.

The tweets in the name of Garima ran thus:

And as he fell from the sky onto the ground,
With broken bones; all but a black box was found.

His ejection was safe but parachute caught fire,
Shattered the family and all that he desired.

Never had he breathed so heavy, as for the last time,
While the bureaucracy enjoyed its corrupt cheese and wine.

We give our warriors outdated machines to fight,
They still deliver it with all their prowess and might.

Once again a martyr was killed,
As he fell from the sky onto the ground.

Unforgiving & and thankless is a job of a test pilot
Someone has to risk it to show others the light.

Proud of my husband Fights on always my BATMAN!!