Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas Shaheed (NH)

Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas S haheed (N.H.)

Born 17 February 1951, commissioned as a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force. Pilot Officer Minhas was taxiing for take-off on a routine traning flight when an Instructor Pilot (Muti-ur-Rehman) forced his way into the rear cockpit, seized control of the aircraft and took off. When Minhas realized that the absconding pilot was heading towards India, he tried to regain control of the plane but was unable to do so. Knowing that it meant certain death, he damaged the controls and forced the aircraft to crash thirty two miles short of the border on 20 August 1971. He died at the age of 20 and was awarded the 'Nishan-i-Haider' - The highest award of bravery in Pakistan.