![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.bhaskarassets.com\/web2images\/1884\/2026\/09\/03\/cover_1788401209006.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/div>\nFormer Indian Air Force Group Captain and Vir Chakra awardee Abhinandan Varthaman has started a new chapter in his career. He has joined Goa-based regional airline FLY91 as a commercial pilot. According to sources, he joined the airline in August 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Abhinandan\u2019s new role will be completely different from flying fighter jets. He is undergoing training to fly FLY91\u2019s ATR 72-600 passenger aircraft. According to reports, his training is currently taking place on the Goa-Hyderabad route. He will operate commercial flights after completing the required training and obtaining regulatory approvals.<\/p>\n Abhinandan was awarded the Vir Chakra for his bravery in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n Shot down an F-16 on February 27, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Abhinandan came into the spotlight on February 27, 2019, during the aerial confrontation between India and Pakistan. At the time, he was flying a MiG-21 Bison and was part of a mission to intercept Pakistani fighter jets.<\/p>\n During the engagement, he shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter aircraft. However, his MiG-21 also crashed, forcing him to parachute into Pakistan. He was subsequently held in Pakistani custody for around three days and returned to India on March 1, 2019.<\/p>\n Received the Vir Chakra for bravery<\/strong><\/p>\n For his exceptional courage and devotion to duty during the aerial engagement, he was awarded the Vir Chakra in 2021. It is India\u2019s third-highest wartime gallantry award. The award citation mentioned his \u201cexceptional sense of duty\u201d.<\/p>\n Abhinandan later rose to the rank of Group Captain in the Indian Air Force. He has now left the Air Force and is beginning a new career in civil aviation.<\/p>\n What will he do at FLY91?<\/strong><\/p>\n FLY91 began operations in March 2024. The airline currently operates six ATR 72-600 aircraft and has two bases, in Goa and Hyderabad. It focuses on connecting smaller cities across the country through air connectivity.<\/p>\n FLY91 has confirmed Abhinandan\u2019s joining but has not shared detailed information about his training or future flights. The airline said that commenting on employees\u2019 personal information is not its practice.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former Indian Air Force Group Captain and Vir Chakra awardee Abhinandan Varthaman has started a new chapter in his career. He has joined Goa-based regional airline FLY91 as a commercial pilot. According to sources, he joined the airline in August 2026. Abhinandan\u2019s new role will be completely different from flying fighter jets. He is undergoing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[32681,32686,32684,32682,32683,25592,32687,32685],"class_list":["post-35744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation","tag-abhinandan-varthaman","tag-aviation-career","tag-commercial-pilot","tag-fly91","tag-goa-airline","tag-indian-air-force","tag-pilot-training","tag-vir-chakra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Abhinandan](\"https:\/\/images.bhaskarassets.com\/web2images\/521\/2026\/09\/03\/images__22_1788403030113.jpg\")
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