An IL-76 pilot has achieved the distinction of having completed 1,000 incident-free landings of the Russian-origin heavy lift aircraft at Leh and Thoise.
Group Captain Sandeep Singh Chhabra achieved the feat on April 30.
Commissioned into the transport stream of Indian Air Force on June 13, 1992, Gp Capt Chhabra initially flew the AN-32 in the narrow valleys and advanced landing grounds of the North-East and Uttarakhand hills, primarily in paradrop and landing roles.
He went on to fly IL-78 Mid Air Refuellers later and is currently posted to an IL-78 squadron, according to an IAF statement.
