Twenty-nine years ago, on this day, 10 tourists on board a cable car at Timber Trail Resorts, Parwanoo, were stranded about 1,300 feet above the ground. On October 14 and 15, two wings of the Indian armed forces -- the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force -- undertook a unique aerial operation to rescue these passengers stranded in a suspended cable car in Parwanoo, around 35 km from Chandigarh.
On Thursday, the Indian Armed Forces shared on their official Instagram handle a post carrying three pictures from the time the rescue operation was undertaken. The first photo shows the cable car -- with Timber Trail Parwanoo written on it -- hanging in the air. Next, we see a tourist being lifted to the helicopter of the Indian Air Force, while the third one is a group photograph of officers and some rescued passengers.
"The operations displayed skilled precision flying by the helicopter pilots in challenging conditions and professionalism by para commandos of Indian Army, who winched up all ten people safely to the helicopter," the IAF captioned the post.
According to a report in The Print, Colonel Ivan Joseph Crasto (Retd), a major in the Indian Army at the time, was at the front and centre of the operation. It was Colonel Crasto who was lowered from a helicopter, flying above the suspended cable car, to rescue the passengers stuck inside. The operation lasted 48 hours and the officer was also awarded the Kirti Chakra.
Not many know that only half of the passengers could be rescued before it got dark. As a result, the team had to temporarily halt the operation. However, Colonel Crasto didn't leave the tourists alone that night. He entered the car, sat and sang songs with tourists just so that they didn't panic, according to a senior Army officer, who knows Crasto closely.
