Published on: 11/24/2015IST
‘Capt. Sumita was a trailblazer’
An old photograph of Captain Sumita Vijayan (standing at the centre in the top row).
A ‘role model’, ‘exemplary’ and ‘hardworking’ is how Captain Laju Cherian remembers his former colleague in the Indian Air Force, Capt. Sumita Vijayan, 45, who met with a tragic end after the helicopter she was flying crashed, reportedly after being caught in bad weather, at Katra in Jammu on Monday.
From the capital
Capt. Sumita Vijayan, who was flying the chopper with six other persons, all Vaishno Devi pilgrims, hails from Avanancherry, near Attingal, in Thiruvananthapuram, and according to Capt. Cherian, was a frequent visitor to Attingal, where her mother has a house.
“She used to visit us whenever she was here. The last time we met, however, was in Delhi, just two months ago. She had visited Thiruvananthapuram in January 2014,” Capt. Cherian, who retired from the Indian Air Force and is flying in Nigeria now, told The Hindu .
The two, with Capt. Sumita being one among the first few woman pilots of IAF, had worked together in three IAF stations, starting with the Bathinda IAF Station in 1997-1999, moving onto Hyderabad in 1999 and then the Bagdogra IAF station in Darjeeling in 2000-2002.
“She was a role model for everyone, especially woman pilots, and she was what we could call a trailblazer, being among the first woman pilots of the IAF and proving that women could do it. Clocking over 8,000 hours of flying, Sumita was one of the senior-most helicopter pilots in the country and undoubtedly, among the best. She was the one who inspired my daughter to be interested in flying as well,” Capt. Cherian recalled from his house in Kowdiar here.
Hard-working
Noting that she was extremely hard-working, Capt. Cherian remembers that Capt. Sumita had retired early and joined the Himalayan Heli Services Private Ltd, whose ill-fated chopper she was flying on Monday, around 2005.
She was the chief pilot there.
Capt. Sumita, who was unmarried, is survived by her mother and two siblings.
Her mother now lives in Siliguri with her sister. Her father N. Vijayan passed away two years ago.
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