12-year-old daughter of pilot killed in chopper crash wants to join IAF like dad

New Delhi: Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan who died in the Mi17V5 IAF helicopter crash along with General Bipin Rawat and 11 others, was cremated with full stated honour at the Tajganj crematorium in Agra on Saturday. After lighting her father’s pyre, the pilot’s 12-year-old daughter expressed her wish to follow her father’s footsteps and become an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot.

Aaradhya along with her brother Aviraj (7) and cousin Pushpendra Singh lighting the pyre of the Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan at Tajganj crematorium stated that she want to emulate her father because he was a hero, in the presence of all others.

Officials from the IAF, Agra administration, and police among others also paid tributes to Wing Commander Chauhan.

“My father used to advise me to focus on my studies and not chase marks. He believed marks would follow if I focused on studies,” said Aaradhya, who studies in Class VII.

In 2006, Prithvi along with his family migrated to Agra from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.

Prithvi joined IAF in 2000 and was flying with the chief of Defence Staff as part of his assignment at the IAF station in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, during the crash.

Earlier, Prithvi’s body was taken to the crematorium from Dayal Bagh, where people stood by the road and showered petals bidding farewell to the Wing Commander.

At around 10 AM, his body arrived at the Agra airport.

Prithvi’s father Surendra Singh, wife Kamini Singh, and other family members were present at the crematorium, also were as other leaders, dignitaries and officials.

Prithvi was among the 13 killed in the IAF chopper crash that took place in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

The lone survivor of the accident, Group Captain Varun Singh is in a critical stage and is under treatment at an Army hospital in Bengaluru.