(Image source from: www.indianexpress.com)
Even as rescue and search operations are afoot for the passengers of Lion Air flight JT610 which crashed today morning off the coast of Indonesia, it has been found that the captain of the doomed airplane was of Indian-origin.
The flight was en route from Jakarta to Pangkalpinang in Bangka Belitung.
According to the report, the captain of the flight was Bhavye Suneja, and, according to local media reports, he was an Indian national associated with the airline for seven years.
According to Lion Air, Suneja and his co-pilot, Harvino, had 11,000 hours of flying between them.
The 31-year-old Indian captain has 6,000 flight hours and the co-pilot more than 5,000 flight hours.
Captain Suneja was a resident of Jakarta. He attended Ahlcon Public School in Delhi's Mayur Vihar area.
The Linkedin profile of Suneja mentions that he accomplished pilot training from Bel Air International. He worked as a trainee pilot with Emirates for a few months before joining Lion Air. He specialized in flying Boeing 737 passenger jets.
The plane, which reportedly two pilots, six crew members and 181 passengers, including two children and one infant, reportedly crashed seven miles north off the coast of Tanjung Bungin in Karawang, West Java.
M. Syaugi, Head of National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) of Indonesia, while addressing a press conference, said, "We are certain that the plane crashed into the sea and is submerged at a depth of 30 to 35 meters. We have located the debris about 2 nautical miles (3.7 kilometers) south of where contact with the plane was lost."
He also informed that 130 Basarnas personnel had been deployed from Jakarta and West Java's Bandung and Cirebon, as well as other areas. Thirty Basarnas Special Group (BSG) personnel had also been deployed to the debris site.
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The rescue team had recovered various types of documents, including Identity Document (ID) cards, passports, and driver's licenses. Authorities had yet to locate the main body of the Boeing 737 MAX B aircraft, but they had found debris from the plane.
-Sowmya Sangam
