On 01 March 2014, Wing Commander Huvey Upadhyaya while on an air maintenance sortie in Siachen region received an urgency message from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) stating that an Army ALH helicopter had not returned to Base Camp and was not contactable. Wg Cdr Upadhyaya displayed courage, initiative and high situational awareness in reacting to the prevalent situation. He offloaded his helicopter at the helipad and set course in search & rescue of the overdue Army helicopter. Undeterred by the fast deteriorating weather and discounting his personal safety, he continued searching for the helicopter. He located the wreckage of the crashed helicopter at an altitude of 17, 600 feet. The terrain of the crash site was undulating, mired by deep crevasses covered with soft snow and had a high slope gradient. The strong winds prevalent at that time made landing the helicopter in the area an extremely difficult task. Even a delay of five minutes would have led to closure of the weather window and the rescue opportunity would have been lost. This would have led to certain death of the pilots of the crashed helicopter due to extreme cold, high altitude, shock and injuries. Exhibiting utmost courage and exceptional flying skills, Wg Cdr Huvey Upadhhyaya landed his helicopter in between the crevasses near the crash site. While on partial power, he hovered his helicopter ensuring that edge of the helicopter ski was in light contact with the soft snow and rescued the injured pilots. Throughout this operation, he was under constant threat of enemy observation. Even a slight mishandling of helicopter controls during the operation would have led to a catastrophic accident. Through his valiant act under trying and near impossible conditions, he saved the lives of two army pilots and accentuated the spirit of jointmanship.
For his act of exceptional courage, resolute determination and extraordinary flying skills, Wing Commander Huvey Upadhyaya was awarded of SHAURYA CHAKRA.
Courtesy: pib.nic.in
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