New Delhi: One of India’s most decorated pilots to serve in the Indian Air Force, Captain Deepak Sathe, was one of two pilots who died in a tragic plane crash at Kerala’s Kozhikode (Calicut) airport on Friday.
Wing Commander Sathe was a student at the National Defense Academy (NDA) in Pune and flew Air India aircraft after retiring from the military, before finally switching to its subsidiary Air India Express.
Sathe had won the Sword of Honor, one of the most prestigious military awards, at the Hyderabad Air Force Academy, and was an accomplished fighter jet pilot, before moving on to commercial airlines.
“Captain Deepak V Sathe was from Course 58 of the National Defense Academy, Pune. It was from the Juliet Squad. Sathe passed out from the Air Force Academy with Sword of Honor in June 1981 and was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force, ”noted Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (Retd) as he recalled his death.
The AI Express plane that crashed was part of the Dubai government’s Vande Bharat Mission to Kerala. The runway was reportedly very slippery, causing the plane to skid and fall into a gorge, breaking into two parts.
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