Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe (Pilot) Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession	Commander of Air India
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 178 cm in meters- 1.78 m in feet & inches- 5’ 10”
Eye Colour	Grey
Hair Colour	Salt & Pepper (semi-bald)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	Year 1961
Birthplace	Dehradun, Uttarakhand
Date of Death	7 August 2020 (Friday)
Place of Death	Kozhikode airport in Kerala
Age (at the time of death)	59 Years
Death Cause	Plane Crash [1]The Better India
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Dehradun, Uttarakhand [2]Facebook
School	Cambrian Hall in Dehradun, Uttarakhand
College/University	Air Force Academy, Dundigal, Hyderabad National Defence Academy, Pune [3]The Better India
Hobbies	Playing Badminton, Playing Squash, and Horse Riding
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	Sushama Namjoshi Sathe
Children	Son(s)- • Dhananjay (Staff Engineer and Executive Director at Rapyuta Robotics in Bangalore) • Shantanu (lives in the USA)
Parents	Father- Vasant Sathe (Retired from the Indian Army Education Corps) Mother- Neela Sathe
Brother	Late Vikas Sathe (Lieutenant in the Indian Army)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe

• Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe was the Commander of Air India flight.

• He was living in Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra with his wife and two sons.

• In 1981, he started working with the Indian Air Force in Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment STE. He retired in 2003 as an ace test pilot.

• His elder brother, Second Lieutenant Vikas Sathe had died in an accident in Punjab while he was returning after a military exercise in 1981.

• He received a ‘Sword of Honour’ from the Air Force Academy at Dundigal near Hyderabad; which is awarded to the cadet on the basis of merit.

• On 7 August 2020, he was appointed as a pilot in the flight IX 1344 along with the co-pilot, First Officer Akhilesh Kumar. The flight under ‘Vande Bharat’ mission was returning from Dubai carrying the passengers who were stuck abroad due to COVID-19 pandemic. The plane crashed into two pieces while landing at the Kozhikode International Airport, Kerala. The plane dropped 30 feet and crashed into a wall. The plane was a 13-year-old Boeing 737-8.

• On his demise, the Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), additional director general, Centre for Air Power Studies, said

This is sad. Sathe was a comrade in arms at the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment STE (IAF’s flight testing establishment) with me. RIP Tester. The call signs of all test pilots have the ‘Tester’ prefix.”

• The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said,

Air India Express AXB1344, B737 Dubai to Calicut, person on board 191, visibility 2000 meter, heavy rain, after landing Runway 10, continue running to the end of the runway and fell down in the valley and broke down into two pieces.”

• Reportedly, he was the first Maharashtrian to get all the eight prizes of the Air Force.

• Before his demise, he told his relatives that he would visit her mother’s place in Bharat Nagar in Nagpur on her birthday. His nephew, Dr Yashodhan Sathe shared in an interview,

Today is the birthday of Capt Sathe’smother. He had last met his parents in March and was constantly in touch with them over phone since then. They had last spoken a day before yesterday.”

• While talking to a reporter, his mother said,

He used to tell me not to go out due to the pandemic. He would tell me that if something happens to me, he would feel bad. And suddenly this tragedy struck…what can we do before the will of the God. He was very helpful and would do anything for others. During the Gujarat floods, he had saved the children of servicemen by carrying them on his shoulders. He was a very bright officer.”