Vonthibettu Prabhakara Hegde

Vonthibettu Prabhakara Hegde (24 August 1925 – ?) was a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force who was awarded the Vir Chakra. The third highest military decoration in India for the services rendered by him during the Kashmir Operations carried out by India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.

Hegde was the first to make a landing in the Mangalore International Airport, then known as Bajpe Aerodrome on a DC-3 (Dakota) airliner on 25 December 1951. His passenger was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. He retired from service in 1968.