The Air Chief Kiran sortie on Tuesday closed the flying career of Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, Chief of the Air Staff, in an Indian Air Force aircraft. He flew the HJT-16 Kiran Mk-1 trainer, and the officer in the other seat was the man who first taught him to fly.

The sortie lasted 55 minutes.

His co-pilot was Wing Commander V S Kochar (Retd), his first flying instructor. The aircraft carried tail number U 707. According to the Indian Air Force, the flight was a reunion between instructor and student that took the Air Chief back to where his flying began, more than four decades ago.

Air Chief Kiran sortie comes 42 years after his first flight

Air Chief Marshal Singh flew his first-ever sortie on 28 January 1984. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on 21 December that year.

The force said Tuesday's flight brought that journey full circle. It described the occasion as a tribute to the Indian Air Force's tradition of flying training and to the instructors who train each generation of air warriors. Flying instructors, the IAF said, stay mentors to aircrew for the whole of their service. A pilot's first instructor is rarely forgotten. On Tuesday, the Air Chief's was back in the cockpit with him.

The Kiran trained generations of IAF pilots

The choice of aircraft was deliberate. The Kiran is a two-seat jet trainer built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and for decades it has been the jet on which IAF trainee pilots moved on from basic flying. The Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team also flew it before switching to the Hawk.

The IAF called the Kiran an iconic trainer and said the return to it made the sortie special.

Wing Commander V S Kochar (Retd) guided his earliest flights

Wing Commander Kochar guided the Air Chief through his earliest days in the air. According to the IAF, his presence on Tuesday brought together two moments in one flight: the memory of the Air Chief's first sortie, and the last time he would fly an IAF aircraft. With this sortie, the force said, the Air Chief closed a long chapter of flying, carrying forward the experience, discipline and commitment of his years in uniform.

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh flew his final fighter sortie earlier this month

Tuesday's flight follows his final fighter sortie in the indigenous Tejas, flown during Exercise Tarang Shakti 2026 at Jodhpur. That flight ended his fighter flying. The Kiran sortie ends his flying in IAF aircraft altogether.

He has more than 5,000 hours of flying on fixed and rotary wing aircraft. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Experimental Test Pilot, has commanded an operational fighter squadron and a frontline air base, and as a test pilot led the MiG-29 Upgrade Project Management Team in Moscow. He became Vice Chief of the Air Staff in February 2023 and took over as the 28th Chief of the Air Staff on 30 September 2024.

Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit takes over as Chief on 31 October

Air Chief Marshal Singh addressed the force for the last time as Chief on the 94th Air Force Day at Hindan on 8 October.

He retires on 31 October. The Ministry of Defence has named Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, the Vice Chief of the Air Staff, as the 29th Chief of the Air Staff from that day.