Pilot who operated SpiceJet first flight dies on Delhi-Doha flight

NEW DELHI: A senior pilot — who had operated SpiceJet’s inaugural flight in 2003 and was currently working with Qatar Airways — died while flying as a passenger from Delhi to Doha on Wednesday morning. The Qatar Airways flight, QR 579, diverted to Dubai due to the medical emergency when the pilot, 51, fell ill onboard. However, he could not be saved.
“The pilot had worked with Alliance Air and spent 17 years in SpiceJet.He had operated SpiceJet’s first flight, Delhi-Ahmedabad, on May 23, 2005. Last year he had joined Qatar Airways where he was flying the Boeing 777,” SpiceJet sources said.
A long time colleague said, “He was very fit and his untimely demise has come as a big shock for everyone who knew him.”