 Puri's command was unfortunately short-lived, however; his aircraft went down in bad weather over the Western Ghats.In a run of bad fortune, the next commanding officer, Sqn Ldr AR Pandit, also suffered severe injuries when his Tempest crashed whilst taking off on 9 December 1947.Pandit's replacement was Sqn Ldr KS Bhat, an ex Vengeance pilot from No.