Air devils from the Indian Air Force (IAF) have conquered Mt Everest - the highest point on earth.

On Monday the IAF put at least three men on top from the northern side of the 8,848 m peak via Tibet.

The 30-member IAF team led by Wing Commander Amit Chowdhury created a record for the force when Wg Cdr R.C. Tripathi summited the peak at 5.15 a.m. Indian time Monday, followed by Sergeant N.R. Chaudhuri, at 6.30 a.m. and Squadron Leader S.S. Chaitanya at 9.45 a.m.

The IAF team made a spectacular start last month when four mountaineers skydived from a helicopter to present the expedition flag from the sky.

A women's team from the Indian Army is also attempting the summit from Tibet. However, it was not yet known if they had been able to make it to the top.

The Indian Army has a formidable reputation for mountaineering and has sent several successful expeditions to Mt Everest. Last year, the Indian Navy summited the peak after teeing off in a Russian EKM submarine, 250 ft below the sea level.

Prior to the IAF starting its climb, the team's training began three years ago, when they started climbing the Himalayan ranges in Garhwal, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim in India.

Asked what made the IAF choose to come down to earth, team leader Chowdhury had told mountaineering web site Mounteverst.net before the team departed that it was "a matter of time before we went to Everest".

"Air Force mountaineers have been climbing for a very long time," the 46-year-old told the mountaineering news web site.

"We've been represented in several Indian Everest expeditions. Air Force mountaineers have been on Nanda Devi, Kamet and have done several other interesting climbs.

"We have the same reasons as any other mountaineers have to climb Everest."

To promote adventure sports among its ranks, the IAF formed the Air Force Trekking Mountaineering and Skiing Society in 1952.

In 1986 it was renamed Air Force Adventure Foundation.

Team leader Chowdhury, the father of two, the alumnus of Kolkata's prestigious Jadavpur University and former principal of the Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering in Gulmarg, Kashmir, has another unfulfilled dream - to go to the Poles.

--Indo-Asian News Service