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MiG-21 crash: Chandigarh bids tearful adieu to Wg Cdr Mohit Rana
Wing Commander Mohit Rana was killed after a MiG-21 trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed during a training sortie in Rajasthan’s Barmer on Thursday
With moist eyes, family, friends and his air force colleagues bade adieu to Wing Commander Mohit Rana in Chandigarh on Saturday.
Mohit, 36, was killed after a MiG-21 trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed during a training sortie in Rajasthan’s Barmer on Thursday. Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal from Jammu was also killed in the accident.
He was cremated with full state honours at the Sector-25 cremation ground in the afternoon in the presence of hundreds of mourners.
Earlier in the day, Mohit’s mortal remains reached his parents’ house in New Chandigarh, where a large number of people had gathered to pay tributes to him. Emotions ran high as IAF personnel entered their house carrying the casket on their shoulders.
Mohit was the only son of Col OP Rana (retd), who stood tall while he saluted the mortal remains of his son. Petals were showered as the casket was taken to the cremation ground.
Before the last rites, Mohit’s wife Nidhi Rana, with their three-year-old daughter, paid floral tribute to the Wing Commander. Mohit’s family hails from Sandhol in Himachal Pradesh and had shifted to New Chandigarh in 2016, after Col Rana’s retirement.
Wanted to fly planes since childhood
Family and friends gathered at his house on Saturday said they were proud of Mohit’s service to the nation. They said Mohit was fond of flying planes since an early age. “The army culture was ingrained in him from a very early age. He wanted to fly planes since his childhood, which became a path for him to join the IAF,” said Vijay Kumar, a relative.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla, Mohit was commissioned into the IAF in December 2005 from the 176th Course. Also a flight instructor, he was promoted to the rank of Wing Commander in December 2018.
