Suranjan Das

Suranjan Das (22 February 1920 – 10 January 1970)^[3][4] was a pilot in the Indian Air Force. He joined the Royal Indian Air Force during the Second World War and was among the first pilots to be sent to Empire Test Pilots School to a test pilot for the Indian Air Force. He was a group captain. He commanded the Halwara Air Force Station Base between 1967 and 1969 and was the director of the Aircraft & Armament Testing Group of the Indian Air Force from 1969 until his death. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in 1970.^[5] He was the son of Sudhi Ranjan Das.^[6] He died in an air crash while test flying a HAL HF-24 prototype.^[7]

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Suranjan Das
Born	(1920-02-22)22 February 1920 Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
Died	10 January 1970(1970-01-10) (aged 49)
Allegiance	British India  India
Service / branch	Royal Indian Air Force  Indian Air Force
Years of service	1942–1970
Rank	Group Captain[1]
Service number	no
Unit	No. 3 Squadron IAF
Commands	Halwara Air Force Station
Awards	Padma Vibhushan Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Vayusena Medal
Spouse(s)	Veronica Loveless[2]

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The entire 4.1-km stretch of the road connecting Old Madras Road and Old Airport Road, Bangalore, is named Suranjan Das Road after Group Captain Suranjan Das.^[2]