The Lion Air flight JT610 that crashed on Monday morning was commanded by Delhi-born Captain Bhavye Suneja and co-pilot Harvino.
Captain Suneja, who was a resident of Mayur Vihar, Delhi, did his schooling from Ahlcon Public School in 2005. He was a trainee pilot for the Boeing 737NG and later went onto join as an airline pilot for the PT Lion Air from March 2011.
Indonesian authorities confirmed that the Lion Air plane took off at 6:20 am (local time) and subsequently lost its contact with air traffic controllers at 6:30 am.
India’s Bhavye Suneja was reportedly flying the Lion Air flight that crashed. According to Suneja’s LinkedIn profile, he belongs to New Delhi and has been associated with the airline since March 2011.
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“We don’t know yet whether there are any survivors,” Reuters quoted the head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, Muhmmad Syaugi as saying. No distress signal had been received from the aircraft’s emergency transmitter, he added. “We hope, we pray, but we cannot confirm.”
He said that items such as handphones and life vests were found in waters about 30 metres to 35 metres (98 to 115 ft) deep near where the plane, identified by air tracking service Flightradar 24 as a Boeing 737 MAX 8, lost contact.
Indonesia energy firm Pertamina official says debris, including plane seats, found near its offshore facility in Java sea.
The brand new Boeing 737 Max 8 was delivered to Lion Air in mid-August and put in use within days, according to aviation website Flightradar24.
(With ANI Inputs)
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