IAF pilots land aircraft on unlit runway to rescue 121

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 28

In a daring midnight operation, pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) landed a plane on a remote airstrip in Sudan to rescue 121 people, including a pregnant woman.

IAF’s special operations plane C-130J planed without runway lights on ground and no navigational landing aids at a small airstrip at Wadi Siedna, about 40 km north of Khartoum.

The 121 people had no means to reach Port Sudan, located a distance of some 850 km from Wadi Siedna.

The operation was carried out on the intervening night of April 27 and 28. The Wadi Siedna airstrip has a degraded surface, with no navigational approach aids or refuelling facility. It does not have lights required to guide an aircraft landing at night.

Approaching the airstrip, the IAF pilots used their onboard electro-optical and infrared sensors to ensure that the runway was free of obstructions and no inimical forces were in the vicinity. The pilots adopted a tactical approach — as done in war zones — using night vision goggles.

On landing, the aircraft engines were kept running while eight IAF Garud commandos, fully armed with automatic weapons, secured the passengers and their luggage into the aircraft. The take-off from the runway was again carried out with night vision googles.

More return home from Sudan

The Indian armed forces on Friday evacuated 754 citizens under Operation Kaveri along with a local staff member of the French Embassy in Khartoum and her family in stepped-up operations that also saw the use of the Wadi Seidna air force base close to the capital of Khartoum.

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