Dehradun: Sumita Vijayan, the woman pilot, who was one among the seven killed in Vashino Devi chopper crash, was the first pilot who dropped the teams of Nehru institute of Mountaineering (NIM) in Kedarnath for the restoration work. She did so in the most inclement weather , in snowbound Kedarnath dropping the teams without any helipad hovering in the sky. She was among the first women pilot of the Indian Air Force and, was probably the best with over 8000 hours of flying.
She joined air force in year 1997 in short service commission and retired in 2005. Thereafter she joined Himalayan Heli Services Private Limited (HSPL) as chief pilot and, is credited for the expansion of the company.She never married and lived alone in Dwarka in Delhi. She is survived by her two siblings and mother who live in Siliguri. Her father died two years ago.
Anupam Kathuria, pilot with Uttarakhand based Dev Bhumi Aviation company and course-mate of Vijayan said, "Sumita enjoyed the reputation of being highly professional, hard working, go-getter and no-sense person with charming personality through her IAF days and afterwards. She led from the front as the chief pilot in HSPL with a small feet and expanded it with more pilots and helicopters under her leadership." Paying tribute to her, principal of NIM, Colonel Ajay Kothiyal said, the NIM team would doubly hard.
24/11/15 Seema Sharma/Times of India
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She joined air force in year 1997 in short service commission and retired in 2005. Thereafter she joined Himalayan Heli Services Private Limited (HSPL) as chief pilot and, is credited for the expansion of the company.She never married and lived alone in Dwarka in Delhi. She is survived by her two siblings and mother who live in Siliguri. Her father died two years ago.
Anupam Kathuria, pilot with Uttarakhand based Dev Bhumi Aviation company and course-mate of Vijayan said, "Sumita enjoyed the reputation of being highly professional, hard working, go-getter and no-sense person with charming personality through her IAF days and afterwards. She led from the front as the chief pilot in HSPL with a small feet and expanded it with more pilots and helicopters under her leadership." Paying tribute to her, principal of NIM, Colonel Ajay Kothiyal said, the NIM team would doubly hard.
24/11/15 Seema Sharma/Times of India
