STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The Indian Air Force’s Jammu Station conference hall on Saturday was named after Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal who died after his aircraft crashed during a training mission in Rajasthan’s Barmer in July, a defence spokesman said.
The 26-year-old officer, a resident of Jinder Mehlu village in Jammu, was flying a battle inoculation training mission on a Mig-21 Type-69 trainer aircraft along with Wing Commander Mohit Rana of Himachal Pradesh. Both the pilots were killed in the crash on July 28.
On the occasion of the 90th Air Force Day, the ‘Bal Conference Hall’ was inaugurated by the flight lieutenant’s mother Praveen Kumari and his father Subedar Major Swaran Bal, the spokesman said.
The first video conference call from the hall was between Bal’s parents and the commanding officer and officers of his fighter squadron at Utarlai in Barmer, he said.
The spokesman said that Air Officer Commanding, Jammu, Air Commodore G S Bhullar, president of the Air Force Wives Welfare Association, Jammu, Ruhi Bhullar, and senior officers of the Jammu Station were present on the occasion.
Flight Lieutenant Bal, an alumnus of the Sainik School Nagrota in Jammu and the National Defence Academy, was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on June 16, 2018.
The bravery and supreme sacrifice made by Flight Lieutenant Bal will always be remembered and inspire generations of this soil for years to come, the spokesman said.