A salute from the sky: IAF copters shower petals to honour corona warriors

The Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters across India on Sunday showered petals on hospitals and places of national importance to show honour and express their gratitude towards the coronavirus warriors who are battling the pandemic.

It was part of the nationwide thanksgiving effort by the armed forces to honour doctors, paramedics, sanitation staff, police and other front-line workers battling coronavirus in the country.

The IAF choppers and jets, including Mig-29, Sukhoi-30 and Jaguar, conducted flypasts and Army bands played patriotic tunes outside medical buildings in most districts across the country from east to west and north to south.

A fleet of military jets carried out a spectacular fly-past over Rajpath, Delhi's centrepiece boulevard, and then orbited over the city for around 30 minutes from 11 am.

Premier transport aircraft C-130 also carried out a separate fly-past covering the Delhi and the NCR region. The aircraft flew at an approximate height of 500 metres to 1000 metres keeping aerospace safety in mind.

IAF helicopters also showered flower petals on the doctors and health staff at the King George's Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow, which has emerged as the biggest hub in the fight against coronavirus.

Flower petals were showered on two hospitals in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.

At around 10 am, the Sarang helicopter of the IAF flew past the Government Medical College Hospital and the General Hospital in the city.

Expressing the gratitude, IAF helicopter showered flower petals over the state-run Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.

At around 10.30 am, the Chetak helicopter hovered over the hospital and showered petals as doctors, nurses, paramedical, sanitation and other staff and police personnel assembled near the premises.

The armed forces showered petals at the Goa medical college, SNM hospital in Leh, Jaipur in Rajasthan, Sukhna lake in Chandigarh, Srinagar's Dal Lake, Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, Panchkula hospitals in Haryana and the Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhubaneswar.

In Mumbai, military aircraft dropped petals at the King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital and Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, among others. The IAF choppers showered flower petals on the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai to pay tribute to healthcare workers fighting Covid-19 pandemic. This was the third major display of gratitude to health workers across the country, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request to countrymen to clap, ring bells and beat utensils to support the Covid-19 warriors from their balconies, and later by people switching off their lights and lighting candles and diyas.