Why a British F 35B in Kerala rekindled memories of IAF’s daring Mirage 2000 rescue

The recent evacuation of a stranded British F-35B stealth jet from Thiruvananthapuram rekindled memories of a similar, but far more daring, Indian Air Force (IAF) operation nearly two decades ago.

The recent evacuation of a stranded British F-35B stealth jet from Thiruvananthapuram rekindled memories of a similar, but far more daring, Indian Air Force (IAF) operation nearly two decades ago.

In October 2004, the IAF executed a high-risk mission to bring home a badly damaged Mirage-2000 fighter jet that had been stranded in Mauritius for 22 days. According to PTI, the mission will go down as one of the most celebrated demonstrations of courage, skill, and technical ingenuity in India’s aviation history.

How did the Mirage get stuck?

The French-built Mirage-2000 had taken part in an air show in Mauritius when disaster struck. On October 4, 2004, it performed a belly landing at Sir Seewoosagur-Ramgoolam International Airport in Port Louis, damaging its:

• Auxiliary fuel tanks
• Airframe
• Avionics
• Cockpit instruments

It was a repair nightmare. The manufacturer, Dassault, hadn’t even cleared the Mirage for no-wheels landings. But the IAF had no intention of leaving a multi-million-dollar aircraft stranded on foreign soil.

The team that made the impossible possible

The IAF quickly assembled an audacious recovery plan. A team of engineers, pilots, and two transport aircraft, an IL-76 carrying spares and an IL-78 mid-air refuelling tanker, flew to Mauritius.

Working non-stop for two weeks, they somehow made the Mirage airworthy. By October 13, the jet was ready for ground runs, and on October 14, it was back in the air for its first test flight.

Enter Sqn Ldr Jaspreet Singh, the pilot for the job

The IAF needed a skilled pilot willing to take on the highly dangerous ferry flight over one of the most desolate stretches of the Indian Ocean.

They picked Sqn Ldr Jaspreet Singh, then posted with a fighter squadron in the Central sector.

“This was a risky flight across the ocean, but I had full faith in our exceptional technical team,” Jaspreet told PTI, recalling the mission.

“Military aviation is about taking calculated risks, preparing for all contingencies, and having backup plans in place.”

The daring flight

On October 26, 2004, with a small weather window open, Jaspreet took off from Mauritius at 7:55 am. His mission: fly 2,126 nautical miles (nearly 4,000 km) to Thiruvananthapuram, non-stop, with three in-flight refuellings along the way.

Here’s what made it so dangerous:

• No alternate airfields to land on if things went wrong.
• Radar-less airspace with no direct radio contact.
• Severe weather along the route.
• Three mid-air refuellings, one just 11 minutes after take-off with no room for error.
• The final leg required flying above 40,000 feet at Mach 0.92, beyond what the Mirage had been tested for, to conserve fuel.

And things did go wrong:

• One of the jet’s radio sets failed mid-flight.
• Fuel gauges showed incorrect readings.
• Oxygen supply in the cockpit ran dangerously low.

Yet Jaspreet pulled it off. At 2:50 pm, after five hours and 10 minutes of flying, the Mirage safely touched down at Thiruvananthapuram airport.

“One of the Most Daring Peacetime Operations”

The next day, the jet was flown to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru, where it underwent full repairs and was returned to service within four months.

For his exceptional courage and professionalism, Sqn Ldr Jaspreet Singh was awarded the Vayu Sena (Gallantry) Medal.

“The ferry of Mirage-2000 across a stretch of 2,126 nautical miles was one of the most challenging, daring, and risky peacetime operations ever undertaken by a fighter aircraft in the history of the IAF,” reads his official citation.

An internal IAF note summed it up best: “Given the situation, not too many air forces in the world would have been bold enough to attempt this ferry. The IAF needs to be proud of this mission and the professionalism and courage shown by its personnel."