Amritsar, December 6
The career of the Indian Navy’s fighter Sea Harrier pilot, Lt-Commander Harparveen Singh Pannu, popularly called ‘Shelly’ by his friends here, came to a tragic end following an air crash at Abolim Airport in Panaji yesterday.

The officer was on a second sortie when the mishap occurred. His last words to the Air Control Tower was ‘aborting the aircraft due to technical snag’.

Despite best efforts, the brilliant pilot could not be saved. The aircraft caught fire after it veered off the runway and rammed into a compound wall, resulting in the crash, 40 metres from the airport.

The brave pilot managed to save many lives as his aircraft fell just 10 metres from a rail track.

Harparveen Singh was the only student from Punjab to be selected by the Rashtrya Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun, while he was in Class V at Kapurthala Sainik School. Later, he joined the National Defence Academy, Pune, and opted for naval services in 1996 as a fighter pilot.

He had been posted at Goa for about a year.

A pall of gloom descended on the house of Col Jagtar Singh, father of the deceased, in the plush Ranjit Avenue locality when the family was told about the death of the officer.

The officer was married two years ago. His younger brother is in the Army. His wife, who is working with King Fisher Airways, was present at the airport at the time of the air crash.