Garima Abrol, wife of Squadron Leader Samir Abrol who passed away earlier this year while test flying a Mirage 2000 fighter jet in Bengaluru, has cleared the Services Selection Board and now she is all geared up to join the Indian Air Force.
Retired Air Marshal Anil Chopra took to his official Twitter handle to announce that Garima Abrol will soon join the Air Force Academy in Dundigal in Telangana and the Indian Air Force (IAF) in January 2020.
He then went on to tag Ms Abrol a “woman of exceptional substance” in his tweet and then uploaded along with a picture of the couple and a more recent post-training photo of Ms Abrol.
“Mrs Garima Abrol, wife of Sqn Ldr Samir Abrol who martyred in Mirage2000 fighter plane crash while test flying it at HAL Airport. To join Air Force Academy. Woman of exceptional substance and will join @IAF_MCC in Jan 2020. Not all woman are made equal some are Armed forces Wives,” he said.
Squadron Leaders Samir Abrol (33) and Siddhartha Negi (31) passed away after the Mirage 2000 fighter jet crashed on its take-off bout on February 1. The two young IAF pilots died despite they had been able to eject as the French-designed jet moved forward quickly and suddenly, broke through a barrier and a wall before bursting at about 10:25 am.
The ill-fated sortie “was to be flown with a target aircraft to check radar performance. A comparatively benign [flight] profile. The accident happened on [the] take off roll,” a senior Hindustan Aeronautics Limited test pilot who flew and handed over the same Mirage 2000 fighter said.
The ill-fated Mirage 2000 had been flown six times by HAL test pilots who had certified the French-designed fighter which is being upgraded in India, sources added.