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Trainee pilot from Pune killed in aircraft crash

19-yr-old Sohel Ansari was eldest of 4 siblings

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When Sohel Zaheeruddin Ansari flew the aircraft for the first time, his parents distributed cakes amongst neighbourers. Within more the next five months, he would have passed out of the commercial pilot course...

All they have now is the mangled remains of those dreams. An aircraft crash on Tuesday killed 19-year-old Sohel.

“The flight, a small Diamond DA-40 aircraft, took off around 12.30 pm and was scheduled to return by 3.30 pm. But an hour into the air, it lost all ground contact and was reported missing,” an official from Gondia police control said, adding the plane was last spotted near Pachmarhi and Tamia forests in MP. 

On Wednesday morning, some villagers from Bandhan village in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh reported sighting the debris of the aircraft in the nearby hills and alerted police and district officials.

Police officer BC Jharia said he was leading a search party to trace the remains of the aircraft and retrieve the body of Ansari.

Eldest son of a poor baker living in Tadiwala Road area in Pune, Sohel had ambitions as high as the skies. With great efforts he got admitted to the commercial pilot course. His parents too did everything to back him. They took a huge loan to arrange for his course fees of Rs 36 lakh. They had gone to their native place in Uttar Pradesh when the news was broken to them. They rushed to Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh where the aircraft reportedly crashed on Tuesday.

Sohel was the eldest of the four children Zaheeruddin Ansari had. He completed his standard XII examination from Wadia College in 2012 and on December 6, 2012, taken admission at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy (IGRUA) in UP’s Raebareli to become a commercial pilot.

His father said, “His friend Sumit told him about the pilot’s course and ever since he had been working hard to become a pilot. When he first flew the aircraft, we were so overjoyed that we distributed cake in the whole area. He was about to complete his course in the next five months and we were eager to see him as a pilot. We are shattered now.”

Local Congress member Yasin Shaikh said, “They were in need for Rs36 lakh of which Rs 15 lakh were given by Sohel’s maternal uncle. His father had taken some loan and he had gone to UP to arrange for the remaining amount.”

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