Vonthibettu Prabhakara Hegde
Vonthibettu Prabhakara Hegde (24 August 1925 – ?) was a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force who was awarded the Vir Chakra.[1] The third highest military decoration in India for the services rendered by him during the Kashmir Operations carried out by India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.[2]
Hegde was the first to make a landing in the Mangalore International Airport, then known as Bajpe Aerodrome on a DC-3 (Dakota) airliner on 25 December 1951. His passenger was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. He retired from service in 1968.[3]