On July 12, 2025, as the world marked World Skydiving Day with adrenaline and celebration, the skies above Skyhigh India’s drop zone in Narnaul carried a much deeper weight.
One month after the tragic loss of Air India Flight AI 171, India’s skydiving community chose remembrance over revelry, turning a day of record attempts into a quiet moment of honour.
The jumps were led by Brigadier Saurabh Singh Shekhawat, one of India’s most decorated soldiers and a lifelong champion of both adventure and integrity. Carrying a white flag through the sky, he and a team of experienced skydivers created a powerful visual tribute, choosing silence instead of slogans and flight instead of fanfare. The weight of loss, and the courage it takes to leap in the name of memory reverberated across the sky.
This tribute was not only for the lives lost aboard AI 171, but also for every pilot, cabin crew member, and aviation professional who continues to serve with strength despite private grief and professional risk. At Skyhigh India, the sky has always been a space of freedom, but on this day, it became a space for healing and for collective respect.
As India’s only skydiving destination, Skyhigh believes that flying is a privilege and honouring those who do it every day is part of that responsibility. In a world that often races forward, this was our way of pausing to remember.