Group Captain Suresh Ratnaparkhi had to fight back tears as he sat in his wheelchair, placing his hand on a MiG-21 Bison that had just returned from its final operational flight at the Chandigarh airbase.
On Friday, the Indian Air Force (IAF) retired the last of its legendary Soviet-era fighter aircraft in a touching ceremony that marked the plane's years of service and its contribution to Indian air power.
She was my sweetheart and I kissed her goodbye," declared the 87-year-old MiG-21 pilot, as India's longest-serving fighter plane flew off into the sunset after carrying the Indian tricolor with honor for 62 years.
The farewell saw notable visitors such as astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and MiG-21 pilot Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman.
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