Deceased Co-Pilot Akhilesh Kumar Survived by Pregnant Wife

Akhilesh joined Air India in 2017 and had visited home just before the lockdown.

Akhilesh was part of an Air India Express plane crew which was the first repatriation flight under the Vande Bharat Mission to land in Kozhikode.

(Photo: The Quint)

On Friday, 8 August, Air India flight (IX-1344) from Dubai carrying 190 passengers skidded off the runway during landing at Karipur Airport in Kerala’s Kozhikode resulting in the death of 18 people.

Akhilesh Kumar, the co-pilot in the ill-fated Air India Express flight was 32 years old and one among the 18 passengers who died in the crash. He is survived by his pregnant wife, Megha. 

The couple got married in December 2017. He is also survived by two younger brothers, a sister and his parents.

Akhilesh 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. “He joined Air India in 2017 and visited home just before the lockdown,” news agency ANI quoted his cousin as saying.

His father Tulsi Kumar told ANI that they were told about the crash landing of the plane at night on 7 August. Later, they received a call informing them about the demise of their son.