Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe, the veteran pilot of the Air India Express flight who died along with 17 others in the crash at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, had survived another crash in the early 90s when he was in the air force and had been in hospital for six months, his cousin said on Saturday.

Captain Sathe had suffered multiple injuries in his skull but had returned to the skies by clearing tests due to his strong will power, cousin Nilesh Sathe said.

Captain Sathe, 58, had been a wing commander in the IAF and had served at the force’s flight-testing establishment.

Nilesh, adviser (finance) at the National Highways Authority of India, said in a Facebook post: “It’s hard to believe that Deepak Sathe, my friend more than my cousin, is no more…. Deepak was an experienced aerial operator with 36 years of flying experience. A passout of the NDA (National Defence Academy), topper in the 58th course and an awardee of the ‘Sword of Honour’, Deepak served the Indian Air Force for 21 years before joining as a commercial pilot with Air India in 2005.He had called me just a week ago and was jovial, as always.”

Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe, co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar File photos

“When I asked him about the ‘Vande Bharat’ Mission, he was proud of bringing back our countrymen from Arab countries. I asked him, ‘Deepak, do you carry empty aircraft since those countries are not allowing entry of passengers?’ He had replied, ‘Oh, no. We carry fruits, vegetables, medicines etc to these countries and never does the aircraft fly to these countries empty.’ That was my last conversation with him,” Nilesh wrote.“He survived an air crash in the early nineties when he was in the air force. He was hospitalised for six months with multiple skull injuries and nobody thought he would fly again. But his strong will power and love for flying made him clear the test again. It was a miracle,” Nilesh added.

Captain Sathe is survived by his wife and two sons, both IIT Bombay graduates.

Captain Sathe was the son of Brigadier Vasant Sathe, who lives in Nagpur with his wife Neela Sathe. Captain Sathe’s elder brother, Captain Vikas Sathe, was in the army and had died in a road accident while serving in Jammu, Nilesh said.

A neighbour of Captain Sathe remembered him as a jovial and friendly man. The pilot had been living in the Nahar Amrit Shakti housing complex at Chandivali in Mumbai with his wife Sushma for nearly 15 years.

“Everyone in the housing society knew Sathe sir and his wife. When he wasn’t flying, the couple would go on morning and evening walks,” said neighbour Pankaj Nagpal.

“Sathe sir was jovial and friendly and exuded positivity,” he said. “Sathe sir used to have one or two flights every week. When we heard about the plane crash, we knew it was him,” Nagpal said. Captain Sathe’s elder son Dhananjaya lives in Bangalore. His younger son Shantanu lives in the US.

Air India sources said the airline was making arrangements to bring Shantanu back to the country.

Mother’s birthday

Captain Sathe’s nephew said the pilot had planned to pay a surprise visit to Nagpur for his mother’s 84th birthday on Saturday.

“Today is the birthday of Captain Sathe’s mother. He had last met his parents in March and had been constantly in touch with them over phone since then. They had last spoken a day before yesterday,” Dr Yashodhan Sathe, the pilot’s nephew, said on Saturday. “Captain Sathe had told some of our relatives that if flights are available, he would pay a surprise visit to his mother on her birthday,” he added.

Neela said, tears in her eyes: “He used to tell me not to go out due to the pandemic. He would tell me that if something happens to me, he would feel bad. And suddenly this tragedy struck.… What can we do before the will of God.”

She remembered him as being “top” in everything — be it studies or sports. “He was brilliant in table tennis, squash. He was also very good at horse riding,” Neela said. “Our son had also received the rare Sword of Honour. However, he would never boast about his achievements,” she said, adding that Captain Sathe was the first Maharashtrian to get all the eight IAF prizes.

“He was very helpful and would do anything for others. During the Gujarat floods, he had saved the children of servicemen by carrying them on his shoulders,” Neela remembered.