Pratap Chandra Lal | |
|---|---|
 Air Chief Marshal PC Lal | |
| 7th Chief of the Air Staff | |
| In office 16 July 1969 – 15 January 1973 | |
| President | V. V. Giri |
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Arjan Singh |
| Succeeded by | Om Prakash Mehra |
| 3rd Vice Chief of the Air Staff | |
| In office 1 October 1964 – 1 September 1966 | |
| Preceded by | Arjan Singh |
| Succeeded by | Ramaswamy Rajaram |
| 2nd Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command | |
| In office 24 November 1963 – 30 September 1964 | |
| Preceded by | Erlic Pinto |
| Succeeded by | Ramaswamy Rajaram |
| 3rd Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command | |
| In office 11 January 1956 – 19 November 1957 | |
| Preceded by | S N Goyal |
| Succeeded by | Kanwar Jaswant Singh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 December 1916 Ludhiana, Punjab Province, British India |
| Died | 13 August 1982 (aged 65) London, England |
| Awards | |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  British India (1939–1947) India (1947–1973) |
| Branch/service |  Royal Indian Air Force  Indian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1939-1973 |
| Rank | Air Chief Marshal |
| Commands | Western Air Command Training Command No. 7 Squadron |
| Battles/wars | World War II Indo-Pakistani War (1965) Indo-Pakistani War (1971) |
Air Chief Marshal Pratap Chandra Lal, DFC (6 December 1916 – 13 August 1982) was the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He served in the IAF from 1939 until his retirement in 1973. He was the CAS at the time of Operation Chengiz Khan, the preemptive strikes that were carried out by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) that marked the formal initiation of hostilities of the war.
Slated to study law in England, Lal instead joined the Air Force Volunteer Reserve at the outbreak of World War II. After serving as a navigation instructor, he trained as a pilot and joined No. 7 Squadron IAF. He later commanded this squadron during the Burma Campaign and mentioned in dispatches as well as being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1945, he was absorbed into the permanent cadre of the Indian Air Force. After the Partition of India in 1947, he served as the Director of Planning and Training at Air HQ. In 1949, he attended the RAF Staff College, Andover. He led the Air Force team which brought King Tribhuvan to safety in 1950. Lal served as the Military Secretary to the Cabinet from 1953 to 1956 in the rank of air commodore. He became the first Indian to break the sound barrier, in 1954.[citation needed]
After commanding Training Command, he was deputed to the Indian Airlines Corporation for five years. He also served as the general manager of Indian Airlines Corporation from 1957 to 1962. During this time, he fell out of favour with Minister of Defence V. K. Krishna Menon, and his services were terminated in 1962. With the outbreak of the Sino-Indian War, he was re-instated and took over as Air Officer Maintenance at Air HQ. After a short stint heading Western Air Command, he served as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. From 1966 to 1969, Lal served as the managing director and later chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Lal took over as the seventh Chief of the Air Staff in 1969. Under his command, the IAF scored a decisive victory against Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh in December 1971. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan, the second and third highest civilian awards of India. After retiring from the IAF, Lal served as the chairman and managing director of Indian Airlines and later chairman of Air India.