‘Captain Sathe: Air India’s all-rounder pilot’

While wing commander Deepak Sathe’s mortal remains were brought to the city on Sunday, his colleagues from Air India recalled their “all-rounder pilot” who died in the plane crash in Kozhikode on Friday. The mortal remains were taken to the morgue of Bhabha Hospital in Kurla, as the funeral will be held on Tuesday, after Sathe’s elder son who works in Seattle reaches Mumbai.

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The Air India Express plane with 190 on board from Dubai overshot Karipur’s table top runway and dropped about 35ft into a gorge, killing at least 19.

As Captain Sathe’s wife, his younger son, sister and brother-in-law reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) around 3pm with the mortal remains, at least 100 pilots, cabin crew, management and other members of both the airlines – Air India and Air India Express – gathered at gate 5, Air India’s triangular plot as a mark of respect. The family had flown down from Mumbai to Kozhikode after hearing of the mishap.

“We are not able to sleep since Friday night,” said an AI pilot, requesting anonymity. “I consider myself to be privileged that I got to work with Captain Sathe, who was extremely good with his decision-making.” “All of us have been disturbed after the accident. Anyone of us could have been in the cockpit. We hope to know what went wrong,” said an Air India Express pilot. Another senior Air India pilot said, “Captain Sathe and I have been together since NDA days and he had always given his best in his work. He was the person with great precision.”

Members close to the family said that the elder son has left San Francisco on Sunday and is expected to land in Delhi by 4pm on Monday. He will then take a connecting flight to Mumbai and is expected to be home by Monday night. “The time of the funeral will be decided once he reaches Mumbai,” said one of the airline employees close to the family.