Captain Sathe, ex-IAF Pilot, Who Died in Tragic Kozhikode Plane Crash

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.

New Delhi: One of India’s most decorated pilots who served in the Indian Air Force, Captain Deepak Sathe was one of the two pilots who died in a tragic plane crash at Kerala’s Kozhikode (Calicut) airport on Friday.

Wing Commander Sathe was an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune and flew Air India planes after retiring from military, before finally shifting to its subsidiary Air India Express.

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 Deepak V Sathe was from 58th course of National Defence Academy, Pune. He was from Juliet Squadron. Sathe passed out from Air Force Academy with Sword of Honour in June 1981 and was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force,” noted Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (Retd) as he reminisced on his death.

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.

The death toll currently stands at 17, including both pilots, and at least 123 people of the 191 onboard have been injured in the incident.

With PTI inputs