The 12-year-old daughter of wing commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, who died in the helicopter crash along with General Bipin Rawat and 11 others recently, said she wanted to follow her father's footsteps and become an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot too.

After lighting her father's pyre along with her brother Aviraj (7) and cousin Pushpendra Singh at the Tajganj Crematorium in the presence of her family members, Aaradhya, a Class VII student, said she wanted to emulate her father because he was her hero.

Officials from the IAF, Agra administration and police among others, too, paid their tributes to the wing commander.

"My father used to advise me to focus on my studies and not chase marks. He believed marks would follow if I focused on studies," she said.