The death anniversary of Nishan-E-Haider Rashid Minhas is being observed on Monday.
Born on February 17, 1951 in Karachi, Rashid Minhas was commissioned as a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on March 13, 1971. Minhas was fascinated with aviation history and technology since his childhood days.
آج ملک بھر میں راشد منہاس شہید کا یوم شہادت منایا جارہا ہے۔۔وہ ملک کا سب سے بڑا فوجی اعزاز پانے والے پاک فضائیہ کے واحد افسرہیں ۔#RashidMinhas pic.twitter.com/UIbrgTarHL
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) August 20, 2018
The 20-year-old Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas was taxiing for takeoff on a routine training flight on August 20, 1971 when an Instructor Pilot forced his way into rear cockpit, seized control of aircraft and took off.
When Rashid Minhas realized that the absconding pilot was heading towards India, he tried to regain controls of the plane but was unable to do so. Knowing that it meant certain death, Rashid Minhas damaged the control and forced the aircraft to crash 32 miles shirt of the Pakistan-India border.
