It was one of those bright summer days, that one sees in Jorhat. Clear blue skies, a few tufts of clouds, green hills both north and south on the horizon, extremely hot, humid & absolutely no dust. An An-32 was tasked to carry army load to Vijaynagar from Mohanbari.
Such exotic-sounding names bring back memories of beautiful green valleys covered with clouds. Lush green forests with small fires, in areas being cleared for Jhoom cultivation. Innumerable beautiful green valley after valley untouched by humans except for the tribals, who actually belong & don’t really destroy it the way city dweller do. We city dwellers have a way of permanently destroying nature.
The aircraft was positioned in Mohanbari, expecting it to be a normal sortie. Mohanbari has a buzz around it, like most bases dealing with ‘forward area or support roles’. Barely had the props wound down the load had been positioned behind the aircraft, the bowser was ready to refuel the ‘ANNA BATTIS’ as the fuel-hungry beast was often affectionately called. The load manifest was ready to be presented to the Captain after the Flight Engineer had perused it. The Navigator was contacting the Met section on the old fashioned Land Line for updating the weather. Everything went like clockwork after all everyone expected to drop the load at Vijaynagar and head on back to Jorhat. Easy-peasy.
The takeoff and outbound were flawless, just like the weather. The crew spotted the ‘Dragon lakes’ and wondered in amazement at their beauty. The multicoloured reflections were surreal. In general, the beauty of Namdapha towering on the left, impenetrable forests all around, while following the ribbon-like river was unmatched. As soon as Gandhigram came into view, everyone almost unconsciously tightened their straps and their attention on the circuit and landing. Seeing the wreckage at the end of the majorly pierced steel planking strip made one wince. The landing was flawless.
As always, the arrival of the An-32 was an event. Scores of children lined the fence, staring and gesticulating as a cool bracing breeze blew across the field. In quick time the aircraft was offloaded, as the crew was about to restart the aircraft, the medical assistant on T/D to Vijaynagar came running to the Captain. He pointed to an obviously pregnant woman standing near the fence and said ‘Sir, inko lejana hoga, ninth month mien hai, and it’s a breech baby it can’t be delivered here, both the mother and the baby will die’. Captain and the Nav discussed and pondered for a bit, as any in their position would have, it was an army sortie, civilians on board would cause problems, also hill out time wasn’t far away, then he was heading towards Jorhat, not Mohanbari. It must’ve taken them, less than 15 seconds and he said in a firm voice ‘please ask her to board immediately’. The die was cast.
After that, an undercurrent of some sort existed in the crew. The clouding had increased a little, exactly as per the Meteorological briefing. They got airborne, set course and climbed to cruising altitude. Every turn was done as gently as possible by the crew keeping in mind they had a lady in the cargo cabin who was pregnant. About twenty minutes into the sortie, there was some urgent knocking on the cockpit door. The flight engineer opened the door and the crew came to know that the lady had started to have labour pains & her water had broken.
The crew still had about 40 minutes to go for Jorhat and needed to get down as soon as possible to get Medical help. The Navigator gave frantic calls to Mohanbari, who cryptically announced they were going off R/T as the airfield watch hours were over. The Captain turned towards Mohanbari & took over R/T declaring a medical emergency, asking the airfield to remain open and ambulance to be available. Mohanbari airfield had no option but to comply. The aircraft landed and deboarded the lady who was extremely relieved to be on firm ground once again. She was whisked away in the ambulance immediately for medical attention.
Well after so much happened, the crew returned to base for a mild reprimand, mainly for sidestepping a multitude of regulations. I believe they deserved a good show, I believe strongly they should have got a good show. Anyway, the good news was, as I learnt later, both that mother and her baby girl (Almost an Ibex!!!!) were fine. Bakshi & Chaks Sir good job done. Proud of you, not everyone would have agreed to do, what you and your crew did.
Epilogue: The An-32 has been a part of so many lives, some good, some sad, some happy & hopefully mostly sanguine. It’s is nevertheless a part of so many lives. This is a part of a series of experiences shared, so you all get a glimpse of what happens in the lives of an aviator flying this Robust, ATF smelling beast ‘Anna Battis’.
Post courtesy: https://scepticnow.wordpress.com
