Wings of Duty — Page 14

Syed Muhammad Ahmad 14 Not only was the runway at Mingaladon in a state of disrepair, the apron was limited in size resulting in a number of accidents. I too once had a collision after making a landing. I was taxiing to my squadron’s apron when a petrol tanker collided with my plane. My propeller was torn off and my fuselage also received some damage. Another time, not long after this, I was hovering immediately above the airport in preparation for a landing, when my drop tank broke off and plummeted to the ground due to a technical fault. It fell almost in the middle of the airport, where 35 parachutists were boarding a Dakota airplane for a mission. At the sound of the explosion, the parachutists ran away and flung themselves into a trench. They only emerged again when their fears had been allayed and they were reassured that the fallen object was a drop tank and not an explosive. The worst incident that took place during my time there, however, involved an RAF squadron of 16 Spitfire Mark 22s which were used for special missions. These planes could fly above 40,000 feet and required more petrol than other Spitfire models. They were also fitted with state-of-the-art cameras. The squadron’s assignment was to take reconnaissance photos, and these pictures were then supplied to the Army and