As the flames engulfed his body,
Both in life and death,
The nation stood with his family,
And with them quietly wept.
All part of a macabre certainty,
Ever since the time of Wright,
He joined his fellow fallen fliers ,
Upon his final fated flight.
Only those who seek to escape gravity,
Can comprehend with solemn gravity,
That the realm of birds is a fantasy,
Laws of nature their only reality.
Yet since the myth of Icarus,
Blue skies beckon the brave,
It’s emptiness overflowing with,
The adventure they desperately crave.
To them that take their lives and craft,
To the edge and beyond,
It’s throttles to the maximum,
In a flash and blur live on.
So strapped into his cockpit,
Upon that tragic dawn,
With a happy smile on handsome face,
Into the skies he was gone.
Thus another morn ,another flight,
As always and shall forever,
Stole the life of another fine son,
Friend, husband and father.
Long before their time has come,
Such men have said their goodbyes,
They are immortal upon this earth,
Invincible in the skies.
Upon the earth tho’ we live to grieve,
Trapped in our lonely story,
Only those are truly free,
Who touch the sky with glory.
By – Dr. Ravin Chengappa. November 2025, Mysore.
(Dedicated to the everlasting memory of Wing Commander Namansh Syal
No.45 Squadron,Indian Air Force)
The untimely martyrdom of Wing Commander Namansh Syal in Dubai airshow in front of large audience is a great loss to our mother India. It saddened all Indian hearts. A true soldier losing life on the call of duty is considered martyrdom. Wing commander Namansh Syal in this case had a glorious departure and might have felt proud directing the aircraft away from the crowd even after knowing his fate very well. Yet the last movements of the aircraft and its occupant brought tears to my eyes. A soldier’s family will be much stronger than the soldiers themselves, but I pray God to give them the courage to overcome the loss.
Just a day before the tragedy in Dubai airshow, the performance of Tejas was exemplary. I was feeling proud of the aircraft I watched each stages of manufacture during my stint in HAL as an audit officer.
Wing Commander piloting the Tejas aircraft with huge applause from the audience just before it nosedived into the ground.During the execution of a negative G turn, when the mishap occurred. Compared to the visuals of similar manoeuvre in Singapore airshow in which the aircraft was recovered with ease but it did not happen in Dubai. Pilot could eject out but normally they are trained to direct the machine away from crowd before they bail out. It takes an expert pilot milliseconds to pull ejection handle and within seconds ejection process occurs. This process and sequence I remember very well as I had to learn this process of Martin-Baker zero-zero ejection seat, to explain one of my Diector General inspecting my team in HAL. This system can eject a pilot from any altitude. But directing the aircraft away (might have) delayed the time to pull the handle.
It estimated that it needs training and practice (with passion) of about 10 years to become an expert fighter pilot. India is blessed with large number of such pilots who touch the sky with glory. That is the reason many first, second and third world countries want to conduct a joint exercise with IAF. Furthermore IAF
recruits and trains pilots’ day and night because a strong force needs strong machines and men. That is the reason IAF pilots can kill advanced enemy jets from inferior aircrafts. Example Wing commander Abhinandan Varrthaman killing advanced F-16 from MIG 21 bison (2019) and Squadron leader A B Devaiah star fighter from Mystere (1965).
It is encouraging to note that, there is huge line of aspirants to join IAF as fighter pilots. I myself tried hard but could not make it. Now I motivate and train students to join defence forces. I write this to pray God for Wing Commander Namansh Syal to attain Sadgathi.