Rescuing a downed fighter pilot

LEEK VILLAGERS RUSH TO RESCUE, ASSIST EVACUATION

WANGCHUK BHUTIA
MANGAN, 30 Nov: The day began sunny and bright in Dzongu today, but the afternoon brought the shock and confusion of an Indian Air Force jet crashing into the sheer cliffs above Leek village in Upper Dzongu. The crash was seen and the explosion heard by the villagers of Passingdang and Leek at around 1:15 p.m. today. No one was sure of what had happened, but before the confusion set in, they noticed a parachute unfurl and the pilot sail down. The pilot was however heading into difficult terrain of thick trees and deep ditches. Leek village rushed to the rescue.
The smoke plumes were visible from across the Teesta at Mangan and Singhik, but what people there did not see was the immediate rescue and evacuation mission mounted by the youth of Leek in Upper Dzongu.
Eleven local youth led by ex-panchayat Nimtso Lepcha, all of whom were familiar with the forest above, marched off to find the pilot and any other people in need of assistance. The crashed jet is an IAJ Jaguar, a single-seater, and Flight Lieutenant Yogendra Kumar of 16 Squadron was the only occupant.  The youth from Leek did not know this at the time and were worried that there might be more casualties.
The Flight Lieutenant had managed to eject in time, and as per eye witnesses, the jet crashed into the cliff face, appeared to bounce and then crash into the ridge behind. The pilot meanwhile, having to eject as close to land as he did, had only limited chances to manoeuvre to safety and crashed into a tree and then fell into a ditch. He made it out of the mishap alive, but could move no further having suffered fractures on both legs, nursing a fractured arm and bleeding from the head.
The dozen rescuers from Leek were however on their way and managed to keep their bearings despite the thickets they were breaking through and reached the Flight Lieutenant within an hour since the crash. They then carried him down to their village.
The return journey was much slower since they were carrying a severely injured person and the team reached Leek village at around 5:30 p.m. with the light already failing. An NDRF team had meanwhile reached the village and the pilot was administered first aid by the team headed by Deputy Commandant DS Kanchan and including SDM Mangan PW Lepcha, a Land Revenue & Disaster Management team headed by Training Officer Kessang Nima, police personnel from Sangakalang Chek-post and local youth.
With the heli-rescue option not available, it had to be another strenuous march down to the road-head at Passingdang, a two hour march away. It was already dark and although understandably fatigued, the Leek youth insisted on helping the pilot down as well. Now equipped with a better stretcher and the relief and elation of having saved a life, the team carried the pilot down upto Passingdang CWC Bridge where an ambulance was waiting. They reached Passingdang CWC Bridge at 8:30 p.m. The motorcade reached the district hospital at Mangan at 9:40 in the night.
The pilot was conscious throughout, and although obviously in pain, agreed to answer some questions. Speaking to NOW!, he informed that he was on a recce and had taken off from Bhuj in Gujarat. He said he was not sure of what caused the mishap.