Saiful Azam: the story of an ace fighter pilot

Saiful Azam, who died at the age of 79 on Sunday, is regarded as a legendary figure in Bangladesh and beyond, thanks to his record as an ace fighter pilot.

A hero with the rare experience of fighting for four different air forces, Azam received gallantry awards from Jordan, Iraq and Pakistan, while the US gave him the Living Eagles title.

The aviator downed at least five enemy planes during a 20-year military career.

Azam breathed his last at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka and was buried at the Shaheen Graveyard after a state funeral at Bangladesh Air Force Base Bashar on Monday.

His cousin Air Vice Marshal Fakhrul Azam, a former head of BAF, said Saiful Azam was smart and expert in sports since childhood.

“He was a role model to me in both sports and study since my childhood. He was my inspiration to join the Air Force,” Fakhrul Azam said in his personal tribute.

Group Captain Saiful Azam was awarded the ‘TOP GUN’ in the United States for his achievements in training and the ‘Sitara-e-Jurat’, the third-highest military award of Pakistan for outstanding achievements in the Indo-Pak war in 1965. He was also awarded the titles of ‘Wassam-al-Istiqlal’ and ‘Nawt-al Shuja’ by Jordan and Iraq.

In a 2018 documentary title “Living Eagle: Saiful Azam”, he said perfect target spotting was the key to his success in downing enemy jets. The US awarded the title to only 22 aviators.   

Saiful Azam, however, could not fight for Bangladesh during the 1971 War of Independence against Pakistan as his plan to hijack a plane from West Pakistan was foiled.

Jordan’s King Hussein bin Talal intervened and saved Saiful Azam from court martial after 21 days of torture by the Pakistani forces, according to Fakhrul Azam.

Saiful Azam and his family had been put on house arrest and finally freed in 1974. He returned home with the last batch of Bengalis working at the Pakistan Air Force on Jan 9 that year.

He went on to become the flight safety director of the BAF and then director of operations before being promoted to wing commander in 1977. He retired as group captain in 1977, but did not quit flying.

Sazzad Ahmed, general secretary of Bangladesh Airlines Pilot Association, said Saiful Azam had been an honorary instructor of Bangladesh Flying Academy.

“Many flew with him even in 1987-88. Many captains of Boeing 777 or 787 aircraft were his students. I was not his direct student, but I had listened to his briefings in 1987-88,” Ahmed said.

Saiful Azam worked as the chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh in 1982-84 and 1987-88.

In 1991, he was elected MP with the BNP’s nomination from a Pabna constituency of his ancestral home. He had also worked as the managing director of Bangladesh Film Development Corporation.

Kazi Wahidul Alam, the editor of aviation fortnightly Bangladesh Monitor, said Saiful Azam was very polite and never wanted publicity.

“The stories of his valiance are coming forward now after his death because he never told these himself,” Alam said.