Indian student pilot among two killed in Canada mid-air crash

An Indian student pilot was killed in a mid-air crash in Manitoba province of Canada, according to the Consulate General of India in Toronto.

The Indian pilot, identified as Sreehari Sukesh, was killed when his single-engine plane collided mid-air with another similar aircraft piloted by a Canadian youth, who was also killed in the accident on Tuesday.

The Consulate General of India on Wednesday said it was “in contact with the bereaved family, the pilot training school and local police to provide all necessary assistance”.

“The bodies of the two student pilots were recovered in the wreckage of their single-engine planes after both crashed mid-air on Tuesday morning near Steinbach, 50 km southeast of Winnipeg,” a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) news report said.

The students collided when approaching a landing strip while practising takeoffs and landings, the CBC report said, quoting Adam Penner, president of Harv’s Air, the flying school where both pilots had been training.

The Transportation Safety Board, the agency responsible for investigating aviation incidents in Canada, said it is gathering information and assessing the fatal crash.

Sreehari Sukesh’s age was not mentioned.

The CBC said the Canadian victim was 20-year-old Savanna May Royes, who, it said, “had always dreamt of becoming a pilot, following in the footsteps of her father”.

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) statement said after its Steinbach unit was notified of the mid-air collision, the personnel from the RCMP, fire department and Emergency medical services attended and located the wreckage of two small, single-engine aircraft, south of Steinbach.

“The two pilots were pronounced dead on scene. There were no passengers aboard,” it said.

Nathaniel Plett, who lives near the flight school, told CBC News that he and his wife heard a loud bang on Tuesday morning. “I said to my wife, ‘That’s a plane crash’,” Plett said. “There was a pillar of black smoke coming up, and a little later (we) heard another bang, and there was an even bigger pop of black smoke.”