Jakarta: Indian pilot Bhavye Suneja died on Monday after the Indonesian plane he captained with 188 passengers and crew on board the budget carrier crashed in the Java Sea, Indian Embassy here confirmed.
Suneja, 31, was flying the Lion Air flight JT610 which lost contact with the ground officials 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport.
“Our deepest condolences on the tragic loss of lives in the Lion Air Plane crash, off the coast of Jakarta today. Most unfortunate that Indian Pilot Bhavye Suneja who was flying JT610 also lost his life,” Indian Embassy in Indonesia said in a tweet.
“Embassy is in touch with Crisis Centre and coordinating for all assistance,” it said.
The aircraft was commanded by Captain Suneja and co-pilot Harvino with six cabin crew members.
Suneja has 6,000 flight hours and the co-pilot more than 5,000 flight hours, the airline said in a statement.
Captain Suneja was a resident of Jakarta. He is originally from New Delhi and attended Ahlcon Public School in East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he had been working at Lion Air since March 2011 and was also a trainee pilot with Emirates from September and December 2010.
The plane was delivered in August and had 800 hours of flying time. It sank in waters about 30 to 35 metres depth, north of the coast of Java island. The aircraft was declared operationally feasible, the airline statement said.
