Indian pilot Bhavye Suneja, who captained the Lion Air flight, had amassed 6,000 hours of flying. According to his LinkedIn profile, he got his commercial pilot’s licence in 2009 and had been employed with the airlines since 2011.
He had finished his schooling from Ahlcon Public School in Mayur Vihar, New Delhi. His mother, Sangeeta Suneja, works at Air India as a manager in the cargo division.
“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 pilots Bhavye Suneja who was flying JT 610 also lost his life... Embassy is in touch with Crisis Center and coordinating all assistance,” the Indian Embassy in Indonesia tweeted.
The airline’s crisis centre could not confirm if there were any Indians among the passengers.
The flight flight JT610 en-route to Pangkalpinang crashed near Kerawang, 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport.
The flight carried 178 adults, 1 child and 2 infant, including 3 crew under training and 1 technician, the airline said in a statement.
