Abhinandan Varthaman: Why Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman chose Goa airline after retiring from IAF | Goa News
PANAJI: He shot down a Pakistani F-16 in a dogfight over the LoC, ejected in enemy territory and was held captive for around 60 hours, during which he famously refused to talk about his mission with a polite dignity that disarmed even his captors: “I am sorry, am not supposed to tell you this.”Now, the man who returned home to a hero’s welcome in 2019 and attained cult status for his handlebar moustache has done the quietest thing a war pilot could do: taken premature retirement, moved to laidback Goa and signed up with regional airline FLY91 to ferry holidaymakers on a turboprop.Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman (retd) is currently training abroad on ATR 72-600, a twin turboprop, which FLY91 sources say he may operate on the Goa-Hyderabad sector. “He joined some weeks ago,” a source said. “A lot of these veterans choose Goa because the place is comfortable….”FLY91’s fleet draws heavily from the forces. “We have pilots who have flown all kinds of aircraft, from Su-30s to MiG-21 and Mirage,” said founder-CEO Manoj Chacko. “We look forward to welcoming a lot more as they come in for their second career. Super proud to have every single defence officer who flies for us.”For Abhinandan, a Vir Chakra recipient, the transition to a turboprop pilot marks a big shift from his Feb 2019 heroics in the wake of Pakistani retaliation for India’s airstrike on a Jaish camp in Balakot. His citation mentions how Varthaman “picked up an enemy aircraft that was flying low” for an ambush and “pursued a retreating enemy fighter bomber aircraft”. After he shot down an F-16, a missile hit his MiG-21 Bison, forcing him to eject over enemy territory. Abhinandan was returned to India on March 1, 2019.Abhinandan’s new employer began flying operations in March 2024 and operates a fleet of six ATR 72-600 aircraft. It has two bases: Goa and Hyderabad. It signed an order Thursday for 40 ATR 72-600 aircraft worth $1 billion, which officials said was the largest ATR order globally for any regional airline.
