Trainee pilot Himani cremated in Karnal

Tribune News Service

Karnal, April 27

Trainee pilot Himani Kalyan (24), who was killed when her aircraft crashed near Gondia district of Maharashtra yesterday, was today cremated at her native Kutail village in the district.

She was an hour short of completing 200 hours of flying to get a commercial pilot licence.

Her instructor Capt Ranjan Gupta (45) was also killed in the crash. She was on the final sortie on the multi-engine DA42 aircraft, which crashed into the Wainganga River near Gondia district.

According to her family members, she had joined the course in Gondia-based National Flying Training Institute around two years ago and had completed 199 hours of flying. She was to join a private airline as pilot.

Her father Gurdyal Kalyan, who retired from the Inidan Air Force, is staying in Gurugram with his family members. She has an elder brother.

As the body reached the village, residents from various villages thronged her residence to pay homage.

Gharaunda MLA and HAFED chairman Harvinder Kalyan, who belongs to the village, expressed grief over her death and said: “It was a great loss to my village as well a\s the state and the country as we lost a young pilot.”

Himani’s uncle Jashmer Singh said that her death had shattered their dreams. It was the family dream to make her a pilot, he added.