Mumbai: Capt Sumeet Sabharwal, who piloted the ill fated Flight AI 171 had 8,200 hours of flying experience. He was assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar, who had 1,100 hours of flying experience. Both were from Mumbai.
Sabharwal was a resident of Jalvayu Vihar in Powar, was known to be a very amiable person who stayed with his aged father. According to a neighbour Pamela Cheema, his mother passed away some time ago. ``When ever I had the occasion to meet him he came out as a very pleasant person. But our interactions were very few since he was constantly flying. All of us in our building will sorely miss him."
Prasun Kumar, editor of “Planet Powai" said. Capt Sabharwal had a sister living in Delhi and a nephew who is also a pilot. The sister is expected to arrive in Mumbai late at night.
Clive Kunder, the copilot was also a resident of Mumbai. While there were social media messages that Clive was a member of the Our Lady of Egypt church, Kalina, Santa Cruz, this could not be confirmed.
There were also unconfirmed messages that while Clive had recently shifted to Goregaon, his father, Clifford Kunder, stays at Kalina village. Social media accounts said that the Kunder's family have their roots in Mangalore but Clive was currently based in Mumbai.
First Officer Clive Kunder was assisting Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the commander of the flight. As the news of accident reached the city, members of the Roman Catholic community reacted with sorrow, exchanging messages about the tragedy.
"We lost a future generation pilot of the country. God give strength to his family members to bear the pain of the sudden death of their son. May his soul rest in peace," said Melwyn Fernandes, a member of Our Lady of Mercy Church, Thane.
According to reports, Clive had trained at Paris Air Inc., a Florida-based flight training institute.
