Days after IAF Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal was killed in a MiG-21 crash during a training sortie near Rajasthan’s Barmer, the conduct of flight passengers towards the fighter pilot’s family members in a Jodhpur-bound flight has grabbed national headlines. The passengers refused to allow the family to deboard first despite announcements by the Captain, according to advocate Sherbir Panag, a financial crimes lawyer and brother of actor Gul Panag, who was present on the flight on Friday.
The family members of Advitiya Bal were travelling to Jodhpur to receive the fighter pilot’s body. Bal was one of the two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots who were killed Thursday night when their twin-seater MiG-21 trainer aircraft crashed during a training sortie near Barmer.
Sherbir, who is the son of Lt Gen H S Panag PVSM, AVSM (Retd), shared his experience on Twitter and wrote, “Flt Lt Bal’s family was sitting adjacent to me in row 3. As we landed the Captain requested everyone to remain seated to allow for the Bal family to disembark expeditiously. Everyone in row 1 & 2 disregarded the announcement.”
Was on the @IndiGo6E flight from Delhi to Jodhpur. Flt Lt Bal’s family was sitting adjacent to me in row 3. As we landed the Captain requested everyone to remain seated to allow for the Bal family to disembark expeditiously. Everyone in row 1 & 2 disregarded the announcement 1/2— Sherbir Panag ???????? (@Sherbir) July 29, 2022
He condemned the “tone deaf, selfish manner” of the passengers and said it is the “reality of our respect for sacrifice.”
“I and a few passengers had to scream at the top of our voices to make them sit down and allow the Bal family to pass. It was absolutely shocking to see one’s fellow country men and women behave in this tone deaf, selfish manner. Thats the reality of our respect for sacrifice,” he said in another tweet.
However, he hailed the Indigo flight cabin crew and said they conducted in a respectful manner. “@IndiGo6E captain and crew conducted themselves in a somber and respectful manner. The captain himself stepped out to pay his respects. The conduct of the passengers was of their own volition,” he tweeted.
He further said, “In fact after the captain’s announcement a co passenger even announced it again that the family lost their son to the nation. It has nothing to do with sitting on premium seats, it’s being inconsiderate or disregarding the captain’s command. Either is bad.”
Thousands of people gathered to pay their last respects to Bal after his mortal remains arrived at his home in Jammu and Kashmir’s Jinder Mehlu hamlet of border belt of RS Pura. He was cremated with full military honours.
The family expressed its pain over the way he died while flying an ailing aircraft instead of fighting enemies. They urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to immediately retire the entire fleet of ageing MiG-21 jets so that no more young lives are lost.
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