New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) Bhavye Suneja, a Delhi-based pilot working with Lion Air, was the Captain of the ill-fated Indonesian Boeing plane carrying 189 passengers, which crashed into the Java Sea on Monday shortly after taking off.
Indonesian authorities said they have found no survivors.
Based out of Mayur Vihar here, Suneja studied at Ahlcon public school till 2005. School sources confirmed that he was an alumnus, but did not wish to comment on the incident.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he received his pilot's licence from Bel Air International in 2009.
He was associated with Lion Air as an airline pilot since March 2011. Before that, he also served as a trainee pilot with Emirates for three months in 2010.
In an official statement, the airline said, "The aircraft is commanded by Captain Bhavye Suneja and co-pilot Harvino with six cabin crew Shintia Melina, Citra Noivita Anggelia, Alviani Hidayatul Solikha, Damayanti Simarmata, Mery Yulianda and Deny Maula. The captain has 6,000 flight hours and the co-pilot has more than 5,000 flight hours."
"Lion Air flight JT610 en route to Pangkalpinang has crashed near Kerawang, 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport at 6.20 a.m."
"The flight carried 178 adults, one child and two infants, including three crew under training and one technician," the airline said.
The aircraft was a Boeing 737 MAX 8.
"It started its operation at Lion Air on August 15, 2018. The aircraft was declared operationally feasible," the statement said.
