The Sampadak Express News Desk
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh completed his final flying sortie in an Indian Air Force aircraft on October 20, 2026, at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal near Hyderabad, flying an HJT-16 Kiran Mk-1 trainer alongside his first instructor, Wing Commander V. S. Kochar (Retd), according to The Hindu.
The flight lasted 55 minutes and was conducted in an aircraft bearing tail number U 707. The occasion reunited the Air Chief with the instructor who first taught him to fly, underscoring the continuity of mentorship through an IAF pilot’s career.
Air Chief Marshal Singh undertook his first-ever flying sortie on January 28, 1984. More than 42 years later, the Kiran trainer flight marked the culmination of his flying in IAF aircraft.
The HJT-16 Kiran Mk-1 has long been associated with the training of generations of IAF pilots and has played a significant role in the service’s flying training tradition. The choice of the Kiran for the final sortie linked the conclusion of Air Chief Marshal Singh’s flying journey with the platform on which many of the Air Force’s aviators have honed their skills.
With this sortie, Air Chief Marshal Singh concluded his flying in IAF aircraft, The Hindu reported.
