Homi D. Bharucha (later Wing Commander Homi D. Bharucha, IFC, DFC, R.I.A.F.)

The first ‘real’ pilot of Tata Airlines

​We all know about how the house of Tatas forayed into civil aviation in 1932 as the Aviation Division of Tata Sons Ltd. Much has been written about two of the three pilots involved in the first flight between Karachi and Madras and back, between 15-18 October 1932.

The legendary J.R.D. Tata flew the first leg from Karachi to Bombay, where Neville Vincent took over and flew onward to Madras and back to Bombay. Both had other responsibilities and only flew part-time. There was however a third and only full-time pilot in the fledgling air service, Homi D. Bharucha. It was in Bombay that Bharucha stepped in and flew the third leg from Bombay to Karachi.  ​​He has remained largely uncelebrated for the role he played and in fact information on him is difficult to come by. I have often wondered as to the cause. Some recent events have shed light on his short life and even shorter career as a pilot and on the reason why not much is known.

​Through some mutual connections Vivek Matthai was able to meet up with his daughter, Gita R. Choksi in Mumbai last month. Gita provided us with a short summary of his life. Born in 1908, he learned to fly in the Brookline School of Flying in 1928 and flew with the RAF in Wales. Returning to India in 1930, he started freelancing as a pilot and mechanic in western India. 

Gita with Vivek Matthai & Uttara Parikh
in Mumbai (Feb 2023)

​He then joined Tata in 1932 flying mail for them between Karachi and Madras. During the eight years he was with Tata, he not only flew as part of the 15 October 1932 first flight, but also both the special flights with Christmas mail and the Colombo extension on 23 & 24 December 1936. Later when the Empire Air Mail Scheme was introduced, Bharucha again had the honor of flying the first extension flight from Karachi to Colombo on 27 February 1938.

Left: Homi with a Chinese pilot during World War II.
Right: (L to R) Sir Phiroze Sethna, Homi Bharucha, a postal official, Thelma and J.R.D. Tata, C.M. Eastly, Nusserwanji Guzder and Lady Sorab Saklatvala.

Mail flown by Homi D. Bharucha on first flights of Tata Air services.
Left: Bombay to Karachi on 18 October 1932;     Right: Madras to Colombo on 23 December 1936 (pilot signed cover)

He joined the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1940 looking after his fleet of aircraft and aerodrome. He was then lent to the R.I.A.F. between 1942-1945 as a pilot, a Flt. Lieutenant, flying critical missions ‘over the hump’ in the Eastern Himalayas. He flew over 1,000 hours and was decorated with the AFC and DFC. After the war, when India took over the Air Force, he was promoted to Wing Commander.

​Having taken very ill, he sadly passed away in 1948, just 40 years of age. His final resting place is at the Brockwood Cemetery and there is a beautiful plaque in his memory installed by his son Cyrus and daughter Gita in August 2022.
​Sir, we salute you!

His children, Gita & Cyrus at his resting place in Brockwood Cemetery in August 2022