NEW DELHI (PTI): IAF's Wing Commander Vernon Desmond Keane, who displayed exceptional courage, perseverance and composure in recovering a "gravely stricken aircraft" during multiple life-threatening situations last year, has been conferred the Shaurya Chakra.

He and fellow flying pilot Squadron Leader Deepak Kumar are among the 18 Shaurya Chakra awardees, including four posthumously.

The Shaurya Chakra is India's third-highest peacetime gallantry award after the Ashok Chakra and Kirti Chakra.

On the eve of the Independence Day on last Wednesday, President Droupadi Murmu approved a total of 103 Gallantry awards to the armed forces and Central Armed Police Forces personnel.

The Defence Ministry shared the citation of the two Shaurya Chakra awardees from the Indian Air Force (IAF), among others.

"On July 24 last year, during a sortie on Jaguar fighter aircraft, he experienced an unprecedented 'Oil 1' and 'Oil 2' failure warning. The warning indicated a major 'Oil system' malfunction warranting immediate shut down of both engines to prevent their imminent seizure. Such a situation had never occurred in the past and actions for such system failure have not been envisaged," reads the citation of Wing Commander Keane.

The pilot while maintaining a calm composure decided to shut down the left engine and initiated recovery using the right engine for the closest runway. While on approach, at an altitude of 2500 feet, the right engine "failed catastrophically". The aircraft was now in a powerless glide, losing altitude rapidly and approaching densely populated Gorakhpur town.

"Since the only serviceable engine had also seized, the situation warranted an immediate ejection. The pilot while displaying superlative flying skills, controlled the aircraft, turned away to prevent loss of civilian life and property in case of a probable ejection and jettisoned empty fuel tanks clear of populated area. He simultaneously decided to attempt relight on the left engine and successfully revived it. He then deftly controlled and recovered the aircraft safely off a single engine," it added.

During these "multiple life-threatening situations, the officer displayed exceptional courage, perseverance and composure in recovering a gravely stricken aircraft”, the citation reads.

"His undaunted courageous decision to remain with the stricken aircraft while displaying superlative piloting skills and exceptional situational awareness ensured the safety of a valuable national asset and precluded a probable loss of lives and property on ground," the ministry said.

The act for which Squadron Leader Kumar has been conferred the Shaurya Chakra took place on August 25 last year.

He was authorised to fly an instructional night sortie in a Kiran aircraft along with a trainee pilot. The sortie was being flown during dark night. While going around after a low overshoot, the aircraft "experienced a bird hit resulting in engine flame out". At this stage of flight, the undercarriage had been retracted and was in the process of going up, reads his citation.

He promptly assessed the situation and took a decision to force land the aircraft straight ahead. He simultaneously directed the flight cadet to lower the under carriage. Despite limited cues available in the night, he used his "exceptional judgement and superlative flying skills" to force land the aircraft on the runway. The available length of the runway after landing was just about 1,000 feet, wherein his prompt actions of switching off, braking and engagement of arrester barrier resulted in safe stopping of aircraft, with minimum damage, it said.

These actions gain more credence considering the shorter than normal runway at Hakimpet, dark night conditions offering less cues to the pilot for force landing and in an extremely compressed time frame for reacting, the citation reads.

"During this life-threatening situation, the officer displayed exceptional courage, perseverance and composure in recovering a gravely stricken aircraft. His undaunted courageous decision to force land the aircraft on a dark night required superlative piloting skills and exceptional situational awareness, thus ensuring the safety of a valuable national asset and precluding a probable loss of lives," it adds.