Much-feted Air Commodore (Retd) Parvez Hamilton Khokhar, a distinguished test pilot
He received the Presidential award for airmanship and gallantry of extraordinary caliber
Bengaluru: Air Commodore (Retd) Parvez Hamilton Khokhar, who was found murdered in his house on the outskirts of the city, was not only a war veteran and a decorated pilot of Indian Air Force (IAF), but worked for global aerospace majors like Boeing and SAAB Group as well.
A graduate of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Parvez, as he was known to his colleagues and friends, also played a crucial role during initial test flights of the indigenous fighter “Tejas” while serving as chief of National Flight Test Centre (NFTC), Bengaluru, often escorting the military jet in a MiG-21 aircraft.
His tenure at NFTC was preceded another assignment in Bengaluru as commandant of Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE). Earlier, he served as deputy commandant of the Air Force Academy (AFA), Dundigal.
“He was a very distinguished test pilot,” says Air Marshal (Retd) Philip Rajkumar, who headed Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) when Air Commodore (Retd) Khokhar was in-charge of NFTC. They worked together as instructors when they were deputed to Iraq in the 1980s, but the latter moved on to serve as air attaché at the Indian mission in Islamabad for four years. Among other posts which he held are head of the MiG Operational Fighter Unit (MOFTU) in Tezpur and commandant of Air Force Station, Bhuj.
Air Commodore (Retd) Khokhar received the Presidential award for airmanship and gallantry of extraordinary caliber.
