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Coast Guard chopper crash: Pall of gloom descends over Haryana pilot’s home in Karnal
Penny’s uncle Col Manbeer Chaudhary said that for the past 17 days, she was on life support following surgery for a head injury at naval hospital INHS Asvini in south Mumbai’s Colaba.
A pall of gloom descended on Karnal soon after news of Coast Guard helicopter co-pilot assistant commandant Captain Penny Chaudhary’s death reached her home town.
Chaudhary had sustained head injuries in the chopper crash that happened on March 10. She breathed her last on Tuesday evening. The 26-year-old assistant commandant was commissioned as an Indian Coast Guard officer in 2016.
Penny’s uncle Col Manbeer Chaudhary said that for the past 17 days, she was on life support following surgery for head injuries at naval hospital INHS Asvini in south Mumbai’s Colaba.
He said that her body would reach Karnal late Wednesday night and that cremation is expected to take place around 1pm on Thursday with a guard of honour. Penny is survived by her father Gurmeet Singh, mother Manjeet and elder sister Rubal.
Her father and mother, who are in Mumbai, are likely to reach Karnal Wednesday night. Capt Rajinder Pal, brother of Penny grandfather, was martyred in the 1962 Indo-China war. “Penny was a bright child — she achieved her dream of serving the nation as a pilot,” Col Manbeer said.
He said that helicopter was on a routine sortie and Chaudhary was accompanied by deputy commandant Balwinder Singh and two divers Sandeep and Baljeet when it crash-landed.
