Even as the search operation for Indian Air Force’s AN-32 aircraft (K-2743) with 29 persons on board drew a blank five days after it went missing last Friday, the parents of the missing aircraft’s pilot, Flying Lieutenant Pushpender Singh, in Gurgaon said they are optimistic of his safe return.
“The whole nation is praying for their safety. I hope all those on board will return to their homes without any harm. Miracles do happen,” said Pushpender's father Anchal Singh, a Master Warrant Officer in the IAF, posted at Palam in Delhi.
Sitting in the verandah of his house in Sector 4 here, Mr. Singh, recalled Pushpender as an “adventure sports enthusiast”.
“He loved trekking and often went on mountain motorcycle rides with his friends. He was clear about joining the Air Force from the beginning. He had made it to an engineering college in Hyderabad, but chose the National Defence Academy over it. Also, he marked the IAF as his first choice in the NDA,” said Mr. Singh, not betraying any signs of despair while talking about his son.
Pushpender’s elder sister, a software engineer, works at a private firm in Gurgaon.
Mr. Singh conceded that it were difficult times and not easy for the women in the family to come terms with the situation.
The family got the news about the missing aircraft through television channels and later confirmed it from Pushpender’s regiment.
“He would often fly AN-32 aircraft from Chennai to Port Blair. So when the television broke the news of an AN-32 plane having gone missing, we got a bit worried. And our worst fears came true after his regiment confirmed that it was Pushpender who was flying it,” said Mr. Singh.
Mr. Singh, a native of Bhiwani in Haryana, said the family has a tradition of joining the defence services and his grandfather and two of his elder brothers have served the Indian Army.
Pushpender, who got promoted to his present rank in December 2013, had come for vacations in June this year and also spoken to his mother two days before the flight went missing.
“He would call two-three times a week and sometimes even more. He called on Wednesday and spoke to his mother. We were pressurising him to get married, but he would keep on postponing it. He said that he had no plans to get married at least for a year,” said Mr. Singh.
He expressed satisfaction over the efforts being made by the government to search the missing plane.
Mr. Singh said that the authorities were in constant touch with the kin of those on board the aircraft and were updating them every day about the search operation. He said the search was being carried out in a most “scientific” manner.
The aircraft’s co-pilot, Flying Officer Pankaj Nandal, from Rohtak and Bhiwani’s Flying Lieutenant Deepika Sheoran are the two officers from Haryana on board the aircraft.
The search is on for the IAF's AN-32 that went missing with 29 persons onboard last Friday
