Capt Deepak Sathe, the pilot flying the Air India Express plane that crashed in Kozhikode on Sunday, had worked Indian Air Force pilot in Bengaluru.
Sathe served the IAF for 32 years, from June 1981 to June 2003, before moving on to fly commercial aircraft.
During his time in Bengaluru, he worked closely with the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).
Dr K Tamilmani, former director-general of aeronautical systems at DRDO, remembers him fondly. “He was a methodical pilot, he never took chances. All his decisions were backed by reason,” he says.
S Ramanathan, then a flight test engineer with the DRDO, had worked with Sathe for six years. “He was a meticulous and systematic pilot. As a person, he was soft, gentle and kind-hearted,” he says.
Sathe spoke to everyone on the aircraft test site in the same friendly manner. “He would learn as much as he could from every member of the team. He even kept a detailed diary of his learnings,” says Tamilmani.
Shared his knowledge
Sathe was also not possessive about his knowledge. Tamilmani recounts how, after every test flight, Sathe would gather the younger pilots and explain what exactly he had done and learnt.
“People felt comfortable working with him. He was a calm and cool pilot,” he says.
Sathe was familiar with the route he was flying on the fateful day, says Tamilmani.
“He used to fly back and forth from Dubai multiple times a day, which is why it’s even more shocking that this happened,’ he says.
Ramanathan adds that Sathe had a reputation for safety.
“When looking back I feel lucky to have known such a skilled and gifted pilot. We were always safe flying with him,” he says.
A family man
Tamilmani says Sathe moved to Mumbai around 2004. “Both his children are extraordinarily brilliant and got into IIT Bombay. He shifted closer to the institute so he would remain as close to them as possible,” he says.
He was a happy family man who was proud of his children, says Ramanathan.
Tragedy in Kozhikode
Trying to land in heavy rain, an Air India Express flight from Dubai, with 190 passengers on board, overshot the ‘tabletop’ runway in Kozhikode on Friday. The Boeing 737 fell into a valley and broke into two pieces. Capt Dileep Sathe was piloting it. Eighteen people, including Sathe and his co-pilot, died.
Nerves of steel
Recounting a flight from Delhi to Bengaluru, Sathe’s former colleague Ramanathan recalls he always played safe, and knew what to do in a crisis.
In his words: “We were on a military plane ferrying test pilots. We ran into bad weather. At 20,000 feet we went into dark clouds amidst a thunderstorm. It was extremely scary. All the pilots on board were anxious and worried, but Deepak was cool. He went through the procedure systematically and in no time we were out of the clouds.”
Remembering his co-pilot
Akhilesh Kumar, the co pilot of the fateful flight also lost his life in the crash. His friend John Scaria describes him as an aviator par excellence and a wonderful human being. As he recounts the memories they shared he says that he's sure he flew till his last breath.
"Akhil was my senior in the same flying school. He later joined as our technical general instructor before he joined Air India Express. During his teaching stint, he took a student that was one of the weakest in the batch, failing at internal exams, and made him the first rank in India for technical general. That should be testament to his ability as an instructor.
I used to text him a doubt every half an hour, and he would respond immediately. On the day the results were out, he called me up. He was more excited than I was that I had fared well in the exam.
After I left to the U.S, I was delighted to learn that he joined Air india Express. He was proud and happy to fly the Boeing 737, his dream airline and fleet.
Some might remember him as the pilot that operated the first Vande Bharat flight to Calicut, First officer Akhilesh Kumar.Others as the knowledgeable technical instructor Akhilesh Sir.
I remember him as my dear friend Akhil"