Highest Drop Zone

On 29 August 2012, the Indian Air Force dropped paratroops at a Drop Zone (DZ) in the Nyoma area near Leh, India, at an altitude of 13,700 feet above sea level. The troops jumped from an IAF IL-76 transport aircraft belonging No 44 Squadron based at Chandigarh, using static line procedures in which the parachute is opened by a line attached to the aircraft. The DZ is not far from the Siachen Glacier, site of the world’s highest battlefield – an area disputed by India and Pakistan.