https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Gujarat_Beechcraft_incidentGujarat Beechcraft incident - Revision history2026-07-31T16:43:28ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Gujarat_Beechcraft_incident&diff=463081&oldid=prevNorineYoungblood at 13:26, 24 March 20262026-03-24T13:26:32Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Event during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}<br />
{{EngvarB|date=October 2019}}<br />
{{Infobox Airliner accident<br />
|name=Gujarat Beechcraft incident<br />
|occurrence_type=Occurrence<br />
|image=Beech18takeoffBF (1012941995).jpg<br />
|caption=A Beechcraft Model 18 similar to the involved aircraft<br />
|date={{start date|df=yes|1965|09|19}}<br />
|summary=Shot down<br />
|site=45 nautical miles southwest of [[Bhuj]] [[Gujarat]], [[India]].<br />
| coordinates = <br />
|aircraft_type=[[Beechcraft Model 18]]<br />
|operator=[[India]]<br />
|tail_number=<br />
|origin=[[Ahmedabad|Ahmedabad, Gujarat]]<br />
|stopover=<br />
|destination=[[Mithapur]]<br />
|passengers=6<br />
|crew=2<br />
|injuries=<br />
|fatalities=8 <br />
|survivors=0<br />
}}<br />
The '''Gujarat Beechcraft incident''' was an event during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]. On 19 September that year an American-made [[F-86 Sabre]] jet fighter of the [[Pakistan Air Force]] (PAF) shot down an Indian-registered civilian [[Beechcraft Model 18]] twin-engine [[light aircraft]].<ref name=Grief>{{cite news|last=Saxenal |first=Shoban |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/War-grief/articleshow/9680260.cms?referral=PM |title=War & grief |website=Times of India |publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co |date=21 August 2011 |access-date=19 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="OI20110810">{{cite web|url=http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?730835|title=Pak Pilot's Remorse for 1965 Shooting of Indian Plane|last=Laskar|first=Rezaul|date=10 August 2011|work=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]|accessdate=11 August 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812231400/http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?730835|archivedate=12 August 2011}}</ref><ref name="BBC20110810">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14481483|title=Pakistan pilot's 'remorse' for 1965 shooting down|date=10 August 2011|work=BBC|accessdate=11 August 2011}}</ref> [[Balwantrai Mehta]], who at the time was the [[chief minister]] of the Indian state of [[Gujarat]], was killed in the attack along with his wife, three members of his staff, a journalist and two crew members.<ref name="OI20110810"/><br />
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Qais Hussain, a PAF [[flying officer]] during the 1965 war, was the pilot who fired on the aircraft. In August 2011 he wrote to Farida Singh, the daughter of the deceased civilian pilot, via email, expressing his condolences.<br />
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* '''Factors Leading to the Incident'''<br />
Off-Course Flight: The civilian Beechcraft, carrying Gujarat Chief Minister Balwantrai Mehta, had drifted nearly 60 miles off its intended flight path. This placed it in a "sensitive area" that Pakistani controllers viewed as a potential precursor to opening a new war front.<br />
Failed Visual Identification: Although the pilot, Jahangir Engineer, "waggled his wings" to signal mercy and civilian status, and Hussain relayed this to his controllers, the ground command (specifically HQ No. 2 Sector) maintained the order to shoot, likely due to the wartime "scramble-identification-shooting" protocol.<br />
Operational Context: During the 1965 conflict, both air forces regularly conducted offensive and defensive sorties across the border to target airbases and support ground troops.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-11/india/29875863_1_transport-aircraft-pilot-condolence | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106033925/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-11/india/29875863_1_transport-aircraft-pilot-condolence | url-status=dead | archive-date=6 November 2012 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Pak pilot writes to kin of Indian he killed in 1965 | date=11 August 2011}}</ref><br />
[[File:CHINA AVIATION MUSEUM AT DATANSHAN CHINA OCT 2012 (8915897427).jpg|thumb|center|A Pakistan Air Force F-86 Sabre similar to the involved aircraft]]<br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Atlantique incident]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*[https://kaiser-aeronaut.blogspot.com/2011/04/gujarat-beechcraft-incident-1965-war.html The Gujarat Beechcraft Incident – 1965 War]<br />
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{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1965}}<br />
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in India}}<br />
{{coord missing|Gujarat}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:1965 mass murders]]<br />
[[Category:Airliner shootdown incidents]]<br />
[[Category:Military operations of the India–Pakistan war of 1965]]<br />
[[Category:Aircraft shootdown incidents in India–Pakistan wars and conflicts]]<br />
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Beechcraft Model 18]]<br />
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1965]]<br />
[[Category:1960s in Gujarat]]<br />
[[Category:Disasters in Gujarat]]<br />
[[Category:Kutch district]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century aircraft shootdown incidents]]<br />
[[Category:September 1965 in Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Bhuj]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century mass murders in India]]<br />
[[Category:Pakistani war crimes]]<br />
[[Category:1965 murders in India]]<br />
[[Category:Crime in Gujarat]]</div>NorineYoungblood