Suranjan Das

Suranjan Das (22 February 1920 – 10 January 1970) was a pilot in the Indian Air Force. He joined the Royal Indian Air Force during the World War 2 . He was amongst the first pilots to be sent to Empire Test Pilots School to a test pilot for the Indian Air force. He was a group captain. He commanded the Halwara Air Force Station Base between 1967 and 1969 and was the director of the Aircraft & Armament Testing Group of the Indian Air Force from 1969 until his death. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in 1970.[4] He was the son of Sudhi Ranjan Das[5] He died in an air crash while test flying a HAL HF-24 prototype.[6]

Suranjan Das
Born	(1920-02-22)22 February 1920 Calcutta, British India
Died	10 January 1970(1970-01-10) (aged 49)[1]
Allegiance
Service/branch	Royal Indian Air Force  Indian Air Force
Years of service	1942–1970
Rank	Group Captain[2]
Service number	no
Unit	No. 3 Squadron IAF
Commands held	Halwara Air Force Station
Awards	Padma Vibhushan Ati Vishisht Sena Medal Vayusena Medal
Spouse(s)	Veronica Loveless[3]

References

1. Brig S Sunder Rajan (12 February 2020). Personalities Inked: Pen Sketches of known And Some less known faces. Booksclinic Publishing. pp. 29–. ISBN 978-93-89757-51-4. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
2. "Group Captain Suranjan Das". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
3. "Suranjan Das Road: A street named after a legendary pilot". Divya Shekhar. The Economic Times. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
4. The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who. 1970. p. 289. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
5. Sainik Samachar. Director of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence. 1970. pp. 226–. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
6. "Suranjan Das - the man and the professional". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 10 July 2020.