Priyanath Mukhopadhyay

Wing Commander Priyanath Mukhopadhyay was an ace fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force. At the time of his death in an air crash in 2003, he was the Commanding Officer of the No. 5 Squadron IAF based at Air Force Base Ambala.

Early life and education
Priyanath Mukhopadhyay was the eldest of the three sons of Late Lakshmi Janardan &  Kamala Mukhopadhyay. From his very early years he showed exceptional brilliance in reading,writing,public speaking and solving complicated puzzles. The talent did not go unnoticed to the parents and teachers of the school in the village. As a young boy of merely 7-8 years he finished reading epics like Ramayana,Mahabhata etc and went around the neighbourhood with the epics under his arms to read it aloud to elders. To harness his immense academic and related talents he was enrolled in Sainik School Purulia, one of the best Residential schools for boys in the year 1972 in class VI. It was a challange for a boy from rural background and having studied till standard V in a Bengali medium school, to cope up in a school where medium of teaching was English and that too staying alone away from the family. It took him some time to adjust to the new set up and new medium of teaching. It was a steady upward progress to stardom and he stood first in class in standard IX and onwards and there after scored highest marks in English in Class X amongst all students in India in CBSE Examination in Yr 1977. Apart from his outstanding academic skills he was gifted with superb oratory skills, reading habit and quick wit. He had very strong determination and would relentlessly pursue any goal set by him till accomplished. He was selected to the prestigious National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla,Pune in his first attempt and joined the 60th NDA course in June 1978.

Mukhopadhyay was educated at Sainik School Purulia. He joined the 60th course of the NDA

Military career
After passing out of Natinal Defence Academey in Jun 1981, he went to Air Force Academy at Hyderabad. He excelled in his training and was selected to the most coveted and prestigious branch of flying. He passed out with 'Wings' in Jun 1982. He successfully completed all courses of instructions and was posted as an Instructor at the most pretigious institution of IAF the TAC-DE. He obtained his Master degree in Defence studies from Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He also went on a special air assignment to United Kingdom in 1997. He was a pilot of exceptinal talent and was revered by his superiors and colleagues. He assumed command of No 5 Squadron Airforce in July 2001. He led the Fly Past display for the republic day parade on 26 Jan 2003. His illustrious career came to a tragic end when the Jaguar Aircraft he was flying during a routine night sortie first went missing at night on 28 Jan 2003 and subsequently crash site located on 29 Jan in the deserts of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

Mukhopadhyay was commissioned into Indian Air Force in June 1982. He was an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington. Effective 19 July 2001, he was the Commanding Officer of a fighter Squadron, No. 5 Squadron IAF based at Air Force Base Ambala. On 28th January 2003 around 10:30 pm, his Jaguar crashed over Mahajan Firing Range in Bikaner district late on Jan 28 2003 night killing him on the spot. . He was flying a Jaguar IS variant at the time of the crash.

Mukhopadhyay had vast experience with an array of combat and trainer aircrafts. After initial training on the HT-2, he has flown the SEPECAT Jaguar including the Jaguar IS.

Flight information

 * Flight hours: unknown
 * Aircraft flown: SEPECAT Jaguar and HAL HT-2.