Capt Sathe, pilot of ill-fated AIE flight, was NDA alumnus

Capt Deepak Sathe, one of the two pilots who were killed in the plane crash at Kerala's Kozhikode airport on Friday, was an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA) here. "Sathe passed out from Air Force Academy with Sword of Honour in June 1981 and was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force," he added. Sathe was also an excellent squash player, he reminisced.

Capt Deepak Sathe, one of the two pilots who were killed in the plane crash at Kerala's Kozhikode airport on Friday, was an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA) here. Sixteen people were killed and several injured when a Dubai-Calicut Air India Express flight with 191 passengers and crew on board overshot the runway and fell into a valley, breaking into two portions, on Friday evening.

"Capt Deepak V Sathe was from 58th course of National Defence Academy, Pune. He was from Juliet Squadron," said Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (Retd). "Sathe passed out from Air Force Academy with Sword of Honour in June 1981 and was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force," he added.

Sathe was also an excellent squash player, he reminisced.