IT News
Mumbai, Aug 8:
One of India’s most decorated pilots who served in the Indian Air Force (IAF), Captain Deepak Captain V. Sathe (58),who died, along with co-pilot First Officer Akhilesh Kumar and 18 passengers, in a tragic plane (Air India Express flight IX-1344) crash at Kerala’s Kozhikode (Calicut) airport on Friday evening.
Wing Commander Sathe was an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA),Pune (Maharashtra) and flew Air India planes after retiring from IAF. He was commissioned into the IAF in 1981 and retired in 2003. Then he joined Air India and was operating the Airbus A310. Later he shifted to Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India, where he was operating the Boeing 737, a narrow-bodied plane, the officials said.
Sathe had won the Sword of Honour – one of the most prestigious military awards – at the Hyderabad Air Force Academy, and was an accomplished fighter jet pilot, before shifting to the commercial airlines.
”Capt Sathe was from 58th course of NDA, Pune and was from Juliet Squadron. He passed out from Air Force Academy with Sword of Honour in June 1981 and was a fighter pilot in the IAF,” noted Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (Retd) as he reminisced on his death.
Group Captain Christopher (IAF) (retd), tweeted “Capt Sathe was the the topper of our course. Stood first and won the prestigious Sword of Honour on 11 Jun 1981. My his soul rest in peace”.
His father was a brigadier in Indian Army, while his brother died in Kargil war. Capt Sathe was residing at Powai in North East Mumbai. He is survived by Wife, two sons and daughters-in- laws.
The AI Express aircraft that crashed was a part of the government’s “Vande Bharat Mission” from Dubai to Kerala. According to reports, the tabletop runway was very slippery that caused the plane to skid off and fall into a gorge, splitting into two pieces. Capt Sathe had made a first attempt to land amid heavy rain, which he had to abort. He made a second attempt, during which the plane crashed, Civil Aviation Ministry sources said.
“The instrument landing system guides a pilot till a certain height and then it is up to the pilot to see the runway touch point and decide on landing. The pilot has to assess whether he or she can complete the aircraft landing process after the touchdown,” said an air traffic control official. “When it rains heavily, as was the case in Kozhikode, the aircraft needs more runway length to finish the landing process because of the slippery surface.”
The AI has arranged a special relief flight from Mumbai and Delhi for rendering humanitarian assistance to all the passengers and their family members. It has also established a passenger information centre and a toll-free number has been made available for the family or friends of those who may have been on board flight IX-1344. “The toll free number is 1800 2222 71. For those calling from outside, please call international country code,” it added.
The death toll currently stands at 18, including both pilots, and at least 123 people, of the 191 onboard have been injured in the incident.
