Hisar Mourns Death of Pilot Who Lost His Life in Suryakiran Crash

The body of Sahil Gandhi, the IAF pilot who lost his life on Tuesday, 19 February, is yet to reach his home town.

The crash site in Bengaluru; late IAF pilot Sahil Gandhi with his wife (right).

(Photo: The Quint)

A pall of gloom has descended on the Police Lines area in Hisar, where the parents of Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi reside. Gandhi lost his life in a mid-air crash between two aircraft of the Indian Air Force's aerobatic team Suryakiran near Bengaluru on Tuesday, 19 February.

The body of the pilot is yet to reach the home town.

Sahil's father Madan Mohan Gandhi is a retired bank officer while his mother Sudesh Gandhi recently retired as the head of department of College of Home Sciences of Haryana Agricultural University (HAU).

Sahil had studied in Campus School of HAU and joined the Air Force in 2004, family members in Hisar told PTI.

The IAF officer is survived by wife Himani and five-year-old son Rayan. Himani is a software engineer and is working in the United States.

Gandhi’s wife is likely to reach the city by Wednesday night, 20 February. Sahil's elder brother Nitin works as an engineer at a company in Sweden.

After receiving information about the demise of Sahil, local MLA Dr Kamal Gupta visited his house in Hisar and condoled the death.

Two aircraft of IAF’s aerobatic team Suryakiran had crashed after grazing each other mid-air near Bengaluru on Tuesday, killing Sahil and injuring two pilots who ejected during the rehearsal for the Aero India show.