Order of Leopold

On 4 August 1983 in Gilgit Sector of Northern Areas, a member of Belgian Mountaineering Team approached the local Army Aviation Base and requested that one of their team members need help. Team was climbing Rakaposhi Mountain when one member slipped from
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steep gradient and wounded badly, making him unable to move. The team brought him down to Camp 5 which was located on the altitude of 5500 meters in the upstream of Jaglot Gah.
Captain of Alouette III helicopter and his Co-Pilot Major Azam were assigned the task to bring

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down the wounded Mountaineer. When the pilots reached the Base they were informed that Camp 5 is located at the height of 6000 meters. Calculations told that to carry the load from such a height, it was necessary to off load the excessive weight. So, the Co Pilot and some

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safety measures such as back door, seats and skis were removednfrom the helicopter. Moreover, some of the fuel was also drained.
When Captain took off for the rescue mission, he was alone for the mission. Soon he reached adjacent to Camp 5. Altimeter was showing the reading
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of 6500 meters which was 200 meters more than the maximum possible altitude taken by an Alouette III helicopter. There was no place for the chopper to land and skis were also removed, therefore it was a highly difficult to keep the chopper stable. Showing a high level of

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excellence and professionalism, the pilot managed to load the wounded mountaineer in the chopper. Meantime, the red light of fuel tank started blinking, showing that the chopper is running out of fuel. They flew back to the base making a flight of 14 minutes, while the fuel

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warning kept on blinking. When the chopper landed safely, there was fuel of only 1 minute remaining in the tank.
This was not just a rescue mission but it was also a World Record of the highest flight taken by an Aloette III helicopter. Previous world record was to fly on

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an altitude at 19500 feet on Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, but it was broken by an altitude of 22000 feet at Rakaposhi by the Captain.
Belgian King announced "Order of Leopold" (The Highest Award given to any foreigner by Beligain King) where as the "Aero Spatial" also
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announced the award for the Captain.
Today the world knows this Hero as Captain Hashim Khan (Later Brigadier Hashim Khan).Brig Hashim Khan also appeared in the Pakistani Dramas *"Sunehray Din" and "Alpha Bravo Charlie".

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- Article by Muhammad Farooq Hayat

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