Gujarat Beechcraft incident

The Gujarat Beechcraft incident was an event during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. On 19 September that year an American F-86 Sabre jet fighter of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down an Indian-registered civilian Beechcraft Model 18 twin-engine light aircraft.[1][2][3] Balwantrai Mehta, who at the time was the chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, was killed in the attack along with his wife, three members of his staff, a journalist and two crew members.[2]

Gujarat Beechcraft incident
A Beechcraft Model 18 similar to the involved aircraft
Occurrence
Date19 September 1965 (1965-09-19)
SummaryShot down
Site45 nautical miles southwest of Bhuj Gujarat, India.
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBeechcraft Model 18
OperatorIndia
Flight originAhmedabad, Gujarat
DestinationMithapur
Passengers6
Crew2
Fatalities8
Survivors0

Qais Hussain, a PAF flying officer during the 1965 war, was the pilot who fired on the civilian aircraft under orders from his superiors. In August 2011 he wrote to Farida Singh, the daughter of the deceased civilian pilot, via email, expressing his condolences.[4]

A Pakistan Air Force F-86 Sabre similar to the involved aircraft

See also
  • Atlantique incident

References
  1. Saxenal, Shoban (21 August 2011). "War & grief". Times of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  2. Laskar, Rezaul (10 August 2011). "Pak Pilot's Remorse for 1965 Shooting of Indian Plane". Outlook. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  3. "Pakistan pilot's 'remorse' for 1965 shooting down". BBC. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  4. "Pak pilot writes to kin of Indian he killed in 1965". The Times Of India. 11 August 2011.

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