Pilatus PC-7 Mk II fleet consisting of 75 aircraft currently operating from Air Force Academy Dundigal as well as Flying Instructor School Tambaram successfully completed a major milestone of 2 lakh accident free flight hours Is. Air Marshal B Chandra Shekhar, Commandant, Air Force Academy and Group Captain Atul Anand, Chief Flying Instructor, clocked 2 lakh flight hours at the Air Force Academy on 20 February.
The Commandant acknowledged the role of the past Commandant, aircrew, maintenance engineers, technicians and administrative personnel, without whose contribution this feat could not have been achieved. The Air Force Academy has the largest flying assignments than any other station in the IAF and a total of approximately 25,000 hours are flown at AFA every year. The accident-free record of the fleet since its inception is a remarkable testimony to the professionalism and dedication of the operations and maintenance team. The fleet has facilitated a transformative evolution of flight training with the predecessor HPT-32 aircraft.
The Pilatus PC-7 Mk II has set a new benchmark in training flying and the platform has so far trained over 2500 cadets, many of whom are qualified flight instructors themselves today. The fleet has also trained pilots from the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard, apart from trainee cadets from friendly countries. The PC-7MkII fleet continues to be the cornerstone of the IAF’s mission to build the best military aviators in the world.