The air show preceding the parade had some anxious moments for the staff and spectators as a paratrooper of Akash Ganga, a skydiving team of Indian Air Force, had a hard landing seconds before he was to touch down on the air strip during the team’s performance.
The team consisted of nine paragliders who were displaying their skills to a large gathering of military and civilian dignitaries, a few foreign Defence Attaches, parents, friends of the flying cadets.
Air Force sources said the paratrooper Sergeant Sandeep Tindori was dragged by a strong wind which led to loss of balance and hard landing for him. He suffered a minor injury in the calf.
The air force officials, including doctors rushed to the spot and shifted him to the hospital inside the academy in an ambulance. “Doctors initially suspected his right leg got fractured and took an X-Ray which confirmed only a twist in the calf muscle,” an officer said, adding that Sandeep also suffered a minor head injury.