Kozhikode air crash: Bodies of Pilot, co-pilot handed over to family

The bodies of the pilot, Captain Deepak Vasanth Sathe and co-pilot First Officer Akilesh Kumar, of the Air India Express flight that crashed at the Karuipur Airport in Kerala’s Kozhikode were handed over to their families on Saturday. 

 Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan told PTI that  the remains were taken to Ernakulam in order to be taken to their respective native places. He said, “The bodies have been handed over to their families who came with AIE officials around 5 pm and as I understand they have moved to Cochin for onward journey to their respective destinations.”

Kozhikode district collector S Sambasiva Rao told PTI that the bodies were embalmed after conducting post-mortem at Kozhikode’s Medical College hospital before getting handed over to the families. 

The plane crash on August 7 has left 18 people dead and 172 injured, some with serious injuries. 

Captain Deepak Vasanth Sathe was an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and a Wing Commander in the Indian Air Force before he joined commercial aircraft flying. He is survived by his wife and two sons who live in Mumbai’s Powai while  father Colonel Vasath Sathe and mother Neela stay in Nagpur. 

First Officer Akilesh Kumar is a native of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and is survived by his wife Megha whom he married in 2017, two younger brothers, sister and his parents.