IAF pilots use night vision goggles to rescue 121 people from destroyed airstrip in Sudan

India has undertaken ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate Indian nationals from violence – torn Sudan. Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Naval Force are serving round the clock to repatriate Indians from Sudan. Meanwhile, in a daring operation, IAF rescued 121 people from a small airstrip in Sudan on the intervening night of April 27 and 28. Group Captain Ravi Nanda was captain of the Indian Air Force C-130J Special Ops aircraft which carried out the operation to rescue people from a small airstrip in Wadi Sayidna near Khartoum.

The airstrip had a degraded surface with no navigational aid or fuel, and most critically no landing lights which are required to guide an aircraft landing at night. The pilots used night vision goggles (NVGs) to carry out the landing at night.

IAF said, “Approaching the airstrip, the aircrew used their Electro-Optical/Infra-Red sensors to ensure that the runway was free from any obstructions and no inimical forces were in the vicinity. Having made sure of the same, the aircrew carried out a tactical approach on Night Vision Goggles, on a practically dark night.”

Among those rescued in the operation was a pregnant woman and the people who had no means to reach Port Sudan – the key transit point from where Indian government is evacuating its citizens using military aircraft and naval ships.

The IAF added, “ Upon landing, the aircraft engines were kept running while eight IAF Garud Commandos secured the passengers and their luggage into the aircraft. As with the landing, the take-off from the unlit runway was also carried out using NVGs. This approximately two-and-a-half-hour operation between Wadi Sayyidna and Jeddah will go down in the annals of IAF history for its sheer audacity and flawless execution – akin to that carried out in Kabul. ”