IAF felicitates its oldest pilot Squadron Leader Dalip Singh Majithia as he turns 102

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 27

The Indian Air Force felicitated its oldest surviving pilot Squadron Leader Dalip Singh Majithia, who turned 102 on Wednesday.

“Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari #CAS on behalf of #IAF and all #AirWarriors conveys warm greetings & heartiest congratulations to Sqn Ldr Dalip Singh Majithia #AirVeteran on his 102nd birthday,” says a post on the IAF’s official twitter handle.

The officer was commissioned into the erstwhile Royal Indian Air Force in 1940, joining No.1 Flight (Coastal Defence) based at Madras. He had participated actively in the Burma campaign during the Second World War.

He had retired from the air force in 1947 after serving with several establishments, including No.1 Air Gunnery School, No.3 Squadron, No.4 Squadron and No.6 Squadron and later flew as a private pilot.

He was also the first pilot to land a plane in the Kathmandu valley in 1949 in an aircraft that his family had acquired. Just 20 years old when he had made his first solo sortie, he flew for the last time in January 1979.