Co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar leaves behind pregnant wife - Akhilesh Kumar was part of the first Air India Express flight under the Vande Bharat Mission to

Co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar leaves behind pregnant wife 

Akhilesh Kumar was part of the first Air India Express flight under the Vande Bharat Mission to bring back Indians from Dubai to Kozhikode.

On May 8, 2020, pilot Akhilesh Kumar was welcomed to Karipur Airport in Kozhikode with loud applause – a hero’s welcome. He was part of an Air India Express plane crew which was the first repatriation flight under the Vande Bharat Mission to land in Kozhikode, bringing back several stranded Indians in Dubai. Three months later, on August 7, when an Air India Express flight that Akhilesh co-piloted touched down in Kozhikode, India mourned for him.

Hero's welcomed late last night for Air India Express Kozhikode-Dubai-Kozhikode #VandeBharatMission commander Capt Michale Saldanha, first officer Capt Akhilesh Kumar with cabin crew members Vineet Shamil, Abdul Rouf, Raseena P & Rijo Johnson

Akhilesh was the co-pilot of the ill-fated Air India Express 1344 flight, which overshot the tabletop runway of the Calicut International Airport, plunged 30 feet below and crashed, splitting the aircraft into two. The 32-year-old pilot is among the 18 passengers who died in the crash on Friday. 

Akhilesh, along with the flight Commander Captain Deepak Sathe, who also died in the crash, tried to safely land the flight on the runway. After circling the airport twice, they attempted to land the aircraft, but the disaster could not be averted. The aircraft split near the cockpit area. While the official details of what went wrong are awaited, many survivors have pointed out that the pilots did manage to save over 170 lives, calling them 'heroes in uniform'.

According to reports, Akhilesh Kumar is a native of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. He is survived by his wife Megha, who is pregnant. The couple got married in December 2017. He is also survived by two younger brothers, a sister and his parents. He had visited Mathura once before the lockdown.

Akhilesh started flying with Air India in 2017. He was the first officer of the Air India Express flight from Kozhikode-Dubai-Kozhikode in May, which was part of the first phase of the Vande Bharat Mission.

He had co-piloted the flight with Commander Captain Michael Saldanha, who recounted Akhilesh as a sincere pilot. “We had only interacted with each other on that flight. He was a junior and I believe it was his second monsoon flight. But, he was up-to-date with the required knowledge of the aircraft. In fact, he did a good job landing the flight in Dubai. We could not interact much as per the COVID-19 protocols,” Captain Michael told TNM.

For many pilots, Akhilesh was Akhil, a pilot who helped them understand the technical details effectively.

Condoling his untimely deaths of the pilots, a pilot by the name Anjan took to Twitter to recall how Akhilesh helped him. “A few years ago, a very passionate Akhilesh Kumar (Akhil for us) pilot on right IX1344 helped us understand Technical General. Till date, my friend and I remember Stability (neutral, stable, unstable) with his revolving chair example. You are dearly missed, tailwinds to both of you,” he wrote. 

Four pregnant women were on board doomed Air India flight, one died

Three of the four women were visiting their husbands on visitor visas in Dubai.

In her application for a seat on the Vande Bharat Mission flight, 26-year-old Manal Ahamed pleaded for a ticket so she could return to her parents in Vadakara. "I am pregnant and want to leave the country immediately. Also my visa is about to expire soon. Please help me to get a flight ticket as early as possible," she wrote.

Manal is one of four pregnant women who were among the passengers on the doomed Air India Express flight from Dubai to Kozhikode that crash-landed at Kozhikode International Airport on Friday evening. Manal is also one of the 18 victims of the crash, which also includes the pilot and co-pilot of the plane.

Manal went to visit her husband in Dubai a few months ago, but couldn’t return due to the cancellation of flights. She had been trying to secure a ticket on the Vande Bharat Mission flights since they were announced, a relative from Nadapuram told TNM. However, shortly after the crash, she was declared dead at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

Thajina Kottayil, 32, is currently in the Intensive Care Unit at Aster MIMS hospital in Kozhikode. She also went to visit her husband in Dubai a few months ago, along with her two children, 11-year-old Hisham and eight-year-old Hadiya.

"She got pregnant while she was there and was trying to return. Her visiting visa was about to expire. She is still ICU. Doctors say they can't tell us anything about the baby. She also has a head injury. They have referred for more scans. Hadiya and Hisham are also admitted here, and are stable," Thajina's father-in-law Muhammed Koya said.

As per the information from MIMS hospital, her condition is critical.

Aysha, who was five months pregnant, was longing to return to Kerala as her visiting visa had expired. She is still at the hospital, though it is not immediately known which one.

"I had asked her to call soon after landing. But she did not. After an hour, I was so scared and read about the crash from the news. My relatives said that she is safe and has no injuries. But I haven't yet spoken to her. I have not returned home as I would have to stay in quarantine for 28 days, which is not possible currently," Ismail Aysha's husband told the media in Dubai.

Nafla, who was also pregnant, was admitted to Kozhikode Baby Memorial hospital, and miraculously escaped without major injury. She was discharged on Saturday morning after a night-long observation. She travelled back to her home in Kerala along with her daughter.