The mortal remains of Squadron Leader H. Vinod, who was among the 13 Indian Air Force personnel died in the recent AN-32 aircraft crash, arrived here on Friday for cremation.
According to defence sources, the mortal remains arrived at the Air Force Station in Sulur at 8 a.m. They were taken to his residence at Singanallur and then to a crematorium in Singanallur. The body was flown to Sulur by a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, sources said.
Air Commodore A.K. Puntambekar, Air Officer Commanding at Air Force Station, Sulur, paid his last respects to the squadron leader on behalf of the Chief of Air Staff, according to defence sources.
In a press release on Thursday, the Ministry of Defence said the mortal remains of all the 13 personnel were retrieved and sent to their home towns.
The Hindu had reported that Vinod joined the IAF in December 2011. In his career spanning more than eight years, he was stationed at three locations, namely, Agra, Sulur and Jorhat.
In 2018, he was a part of the IAF team involved in rescue operations during Kerala floods, according to sources close to the family.
On June 3, an AN-32 aircraft, which took off from the Air Force Station in Jorhat, went missing with 13 personnel on board.
On June 11, the wreckage was found on a mountain slope in Arunachal Pradesh and all the 13 personnel were reported to have died in the crash, the Ministry of Defence said in its release.
