#LionAirCrash: Body of Indian pilot who captained the flight identified
Indonesian authorities have identified the body of Bhavye Suneja, the Indian pilot who captained the ill-fated Lion Air flight that crashed into the sea on October 29, killing all 188 people who were on board. Captain Suneja's remains will be handed over to his family at the Indian Embassy in Jakarta later today, said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Here's more.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweets her condolences
Suneja hailed from Delhi's Mayur Vihar
Suneja, a resident of New Delhi's Mayur Vihar, was the captain of the ill-fated Lion Air flight JT-610. Suneja, and his co-pilot, who were in charge of flight JT-610, collectively had over 11,000 hours of flying time, and were on a routine flight between the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Pangkal Pinang when misfortune struck. Suneja married in 2016 and was settled in Jakarta.
Suneja had extensive flying experience
Suneja passed out of Mayur Vihar's Ahlcon Public School in 2005, and got his pilot license from Bel Air International in 2009. In 2010, he joined Emirates as a trainee pilot and remained with the airlines for four months before leaving to join low-cost Indonesian carrier Lion Air in 2011. Since then, Suneja has flown extensively, and had an incident-free, accident-free flying record.
Suneja had been considering returning to India
According to TOI, Suneja was considering returning to India before disaster struck. The Vice-President of a leading Indian airline had reportedly spoken to Suneja about his return, and was keen on having the 31-year-old pilot join its ranks, owing to his impeccable flying record. Suneja had reportedly asked for a New Delhi posting and wanted assistance in getting an Indian ATPL (commander's license).
