India, Sept. 3 -- Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman became a fixture of India-Pakistan military history in February 2019, when he shot down a Pakistani F-16 while flying a MiG-21 Bison, before his own jet was hit, forcing him to eject over Pakistani-held territory.

Seven years on, he has traded fighter jets for a very different cockpit.

On March 31 this year, Varthaman took premature retirement from the Indian Air Force after completing 22 years of service, officials aware of the matter said. He subsequently joined Goa-based regional carrier FLY91 as a commercial pilot.

The confrontation with Pakistan unfolded on February 27, 2019, less than 24 hours after India carried out an airstrike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) facility in Balakot,...