Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit appointed as the new Chief of the Indian Air Force.
The Air Marshal has extensive flying experience on various aircraft, including Mirage-2000, variants of MiG, HPT-32, An-32, Avro, Kiran, Jaguar, IL-78, Hawk, and Tejas. He is an Experimental Test Pilot and a Qualified Flying Instructor. During his service career, spanning approx four decades, he has been actively involved in numerous operations and exercises, viz. Op Safed Sagar, Op Rakshak, Cope-India and Op Sindoor. Widely known for pushing the indigenous LCA Tejas and other indigenous aircraft projects in the force, Air Marshal Dixit is expected to further promote the Aatmanirbharta initiative of the government. He was commissioned into the fighter stream of IAF on 06 December 1986 and is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Defence Staff Service College (Bangladesh) and National Defence College with more than 3500 hours of flying.
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Indian Embassy in the UAE says, "Indian braveheart Capt Smit remains under excellent medical care and attention. He is recovering well and his health is improving. We are in close touch with his family and local authorities, extending all support for a speedy recovery. Our deep thanks to the UAE government for their care, and we join well-wishers in praying for Captain SmitтАЩs good health."
From another Captain
Capt Smit, something happened yesterday on my flight to Yerevan which honestly stayed with me.
When I stepped out during refuelling, the refueller asked me where I was from. I told him IтАЩm Indian.
He just came up, hugged me and then gave me a salute.
I honestly canтАЩt explain what that felt like. Standing there in another country, in my pilot uniform, and having someone show me that kind of respect simply because IтАЩm IndianтАж it genuinely gave me goosebumps.
And my immediate thought was тАФ this is because of you.
The way people look at India today, the respect Indians are getting around the world, and especially the way Indian pilots are being seen when we represent our countryтАж I feel like something has really changed.
And I want you to know that IтАЩm genuinely grateful to you for being a part of that change.
Sometimes we see things from far away and donтАЩt realise the impact theyтАЩre actually having on ordinary people like us. But yesterday, that hug and that salute made me feel it personally.
That guy probably had no idea what that moment meant to me. But I walked back to the aircraft feeling incredibly proud to be Indian тАФ and incredibly grateful to you.
I just felt I had to tell you this.
And most importantly, wishing you a very speedy recovery!
This man is a hero.
Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian captain of flydubai Flight 1073, fought back after being stabbed in the cockpit.
Despite being severely injured, he managed to unlock the cockpit door - allowing Israeli passengers and the Emirati crew to intervene and save all the passengers.
Together, their extraordinary courage saved 174 lives.
Indian. Israeli. Emirati.
Different nationalities. One extraordinary act of courage. ЁЯЗоЁЯЗ│ЁЯЗоЁЯЗ▒ЁЯЗжЁЯЗк
We wish Captain Machchhar a full and speedy recovery.