[cemDrymnVem]

Link Some Indian Navy Sea Hawk ejections

The story is about Lieutenant Yashwant Bhide who was then with the 300 Squadron. During an exercise his Seahawk got into trouble off Bombay and he had to eject before the aircraft crashed. He spent a whole day and part of the night in the water and was eventually rescued by a fisherman and brought ashore at Versova. Hastening to reassure his parents then living in Bombay-his father had retired from the ICS and was the Chairman of the Bank or an Insurance Company I believe - he called from a public telephone and told his rather who had come to the phone that he was all right but that the aircraft was a total write-off. His father is reported to have said, 'Your mother and I are happy to have you back; but tell me, was the plane insured or do I have to pay for it?' n Indian Navy pilot, Commander Peter Debras, accomplished an extraordinary feat on 4 March 1976, when the VIKRANT's catapult malfunctioned and his Sea Hawk splashed down and sank in front of the carrier. The vessel then steamed directly over the top of the aircraft, and Debras cooly waited until it had passed over before ejecting and being rescued. It was the world's deepest successful ejection.