Saiful Azam Group Captain Saiful Azam ( born 1941 ) is a retired air force officer who served as a fighter pilot with the Pakistan Air Force in the years before 1971 . In 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation war he was imprisoned by Pakistan authority , after the independence of Bangladesh he returned to his homeland and joined Bangladesh Air Force . Personal life and education . Azam was born in Khagarbaria Village , Faridpur Upazila , Pabna District , Bangladesh ( previously known as East Pakistan ) in 1941 . After several years in Calcutta , he relocated in 1947 with his family to East Pakistan ) , after the British left the Indian subcontinent . Azam relocated to Pakistan in 1956 , before joining the Pakistan Air Force in 1958 , successfully becoming a pilot in 1960 . His first cousin Air Vice Marshal Fakhrul Azam was Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Air Force from 2002 to 2007 . Early career . After training with the Cessna T - 37 aircraft and further education at Luke Air Force Base , Arizona with F - 86 Sabres , in 1963 , Azam was posted briefly in Bangladesh before becoming an instructor with the T - 33 ' s at number 2 Squadron ( Jet conversion unit ) in Mauripur . While still posted as an instructor , Azam flew in the September 1965 war with India as part of the No . 17 squadron from Pakistan Air force base at Sargodha , flying F - 86 ' s . After returning from a successful ground attack , Azam ' s group encountered Indian Folland Gnat interceptors ; Azam shot down Flight Officer Mayadev of the Indian Air force . Azam was awarded the Sitara - e - Jurat , Pakistan ' s third highest military award . In 1966 , he assumed the command of No . 2 squadron . In November 1966 he was sent as an adviser to the Royal Jordanian Air Force . He was one of the two Pakistani Air Force officers deputized , along with Flight Lieutenant M . Sarwar Shad . When the Six - Day War broke out in 1967 he flew a Hawker Hunter of the No . 1 squadron for the Royal Jordanian Air Force . Over a two - day period , Azam was involved in attacks at two different bases , for which he received Jordan ' s Order of Istiqlal and Iraq ' s medal of bravery , the Nut al - Shujat . On June 5 , 1967 , he was called to defend Jordan ' s main base at Mafraq from the Israeli Air Force ' s Dassault Super Mystère aircraft . One of four Hunters flown by Pakistanis , Azam shot down an Israeli fighter and damaged another . On June 6 , 1967 , he was transferred to the Iraqi Air Force and was in western Iraq when four Israeli Vatour bombers escorted by two Mirage fighters attacked the airbase . One Mirage pilot , Captain Gideon Dror , shot down two Iraqi fighters including Azam ' s wingman , but was in turn shot down by Azam . Azam also shot down a Vatour bomber flown by Captain Golan . Both of them were taken as prisoners of war . Later career . In 1969 , he returned in service to Pakistan and spent several years as flight commander in various locations before the Independence of Bangladesh in 1971 . Azam entered service to Bangladesh Air Force after the war , serving as Director of Flight Safety and Director of Operations before he was given command of the Dhaka Air Base and promoted to Group Captain in 1977 . Azam retired from the Bangladesh Air Force in 1980 , but continued public service in other capacities . He served in the following appointments accordingly : Subsequently , he entered private business as Managing Director of Natasha Trading Agency and as the director of a travel agency with his wife . Career achievements . Saiful Azam remains the only fighter pilot who has flown for three air forces ( Jordan , Iraq and Pakistan ) at war , along with the unique distinction of having kills against two different air forces ( India and Israel ) . As of 2012 , according to the Pakistan government , he holds the record for shooting down more Israeli aircraft than any other pilot . They also indicate that the United States Air Force honored Azam in 2000 and that Azam is " One of the twenty two ' Living Eagles ' of the world " .