At midnight on 3-4 May 2023, a C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force took off from Hindon, reaching Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in the morning after a night journey. The aircraft was refueled in Jeddah to fly nonstop from Jeddah to war-torn Sudan and back to India. The aircraft took on additional fuel from Jeddah to avoid fuel unavailability and delay in refueling in Sudan. This was a one of its kind special mission through which 192 passengers were brought back. Most of these were women, children and the elderly, who were either NRIs, foreign nationals or OCIs (Overseas Citizens of India). These people could not be taken to Jeddah , and therefore needed to be flown directly to India on a nonstop flight by this heavy jet.
In Sudan , the aircraft performed an overhead steep tactical arrival after an attack approach to land a heavy jet. During the entire period of ground operations , the engine of the aircraft was kept running for the purpose of quick exit from the airfield depending on the conditions.
The crew faced another emergency when one of the passengers fainted during the flight. The situation was handled promptly and efficiently by the crew, who administered 100 per cent oxygen to stabilize him.
The aircraft landed at Ahmedabad in the late evening of 4 May 2023 and then, reached its home base at Hindon the same night. Thus, the crew finally flew over a long period of about 24 hours to bring back some of the stranded countrymen to India.
