Group Captain Machettira Karumbaiah Praveen

Group Captain Machettira Karumbaiah Praveen was commissioned in the Indian Air Force as an engineer in the Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical) branch on 06 Apr 93.

Family

Father

Machetira Karumbaiah

Education

Engineering

Achievements

• From 30 Sep 13, he was Commanding No. 1 Air Force Range Unit. The unit is tasked to provide Explosive Ordnance Disposal coverage for the units in AOR of WAC.
• On 22 Jan 14, at Air Force Station Nal, a Jaguar aircraft had inadvertently dropped two 1000 pound RDZ bombs in a nearby village: One of the bombs had exploded after landing on ground whilst the other was buried at 2-3 meters depth. The situation was potentially dangerous since the buried bomb was in all likelihood armed and required only an impact for detonation. For eliminating the prevalent danger to the life and property of the villagers, it was obligatory to ascertain the status of the bomb through a physical inspection of the same. The officer, being fully aware of the risk to his life, volunteered to physically examine the bomb single handedly and thus circumvented tasking & risking the life of his subordinates. Having successfully ascertained the status of bomb, he correctly analysed that the stipulated procedure of disposing such a bomb could not be undertaken due to various constraints. Therefore, he employed an innovative but more dangerous method of probing/digging the bomb from the nose area to get access and successfully demolished the bomb by taping and exploding a small quantity of Plastic Explosive. These actions of the officer were instrumental in ensuring that there was no loss of life or damage to any property.
• Earlier on 11 Dec 13, at Air Force Station Ambala, the officer with his team had successfully disposed two 1000 pound RDZ bombs that were jettisoned near the runway by an aircraft in emergency. The team led by the officer had in-situ cut the bomb by charge linear cutter (CLC) and subsequently disposed the bomb by burning The  task, by the Officer, of disposing three live 1000 pound RDZ bombs was accomplished for the first time in the recent past of the Indian Air Force. Additionally, it was achieved with thorough professionalism and without any damage to man or material.

Awards

•  He was awarded  Vayu Sena Medal (Devotion To Duty) on 26 Jan 2015