Ahmedabad plane crash: Funeral of AI Co-Pilot Clive Kunder held in Mumbai

Mumbai: The mortal remains of Clive Kunder, the Co-pilot of the ill-fated Air India AI-171 flight that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, were brought to his residence in Mumbai on Thursday and he was buried at the Sewri Christian Cemetery.

Emotional visuals from his home on Ram Mandir Road in Goregaon (West) showed a crowd of people gathered in mourning, as Kunder’s grieving family stood before his portrait, deeply impacted by the tragic loss.

The casket carrying Kunder’s body arrived at Mumbai airport by flight and was later transported to his residence, where close friends, neighbours, and extended family came together to pay their final respects before the funeral.

Kunder lived with his elderly parents and younger sister, who were inconsolable as the body was placed at their home. Officials stated that the body remained at the residence until 1 p.m., following which it was taken for burial at the Sewri Christian Cemetery at 2:30 PM on Thursday.

Kunder was one of the crew members aboard Air India Flight AI-171, which was headed for London with 242 people on board when it crashed shortly after take-off on June 12.

The aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, struck the B.J. Medical College Hostel complex located outside the airport perimeter, erupting into a fireball that killed nearly all passengers and crew, along with 33 people on the ground. Only one passenger miraculously survived the crash.

Sadhiya, a neighbour, told IANS, “We were neighbours. When we heard about this accident, we were in shock. It felt like a personal loss. Kunder was a very jolly, lively and happy person. It is a very tragic accident.”

“So many people came to pay tributes to him. It shows how lovely a person he was,” she added.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the flight was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a seasoned pilot with over 8,200 flying hours under his belt.

First Officer Clive Kunder had logged approximately 1,100 hours of flight time.

Meanwhile, six days after the catastrophe that claimed over 270 lives, the identification of victims through DNA matching continues at a fast pace.

Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel confirmed that by Wednesday, DNA samples from 206 victims had been successfully matched, and 169 bodies had been returned to their families.

The aircraft, which was on its way from Ahmedabad to Gatwick Airport in London, crashed into the B.J. Medical College Hostel shortly after take-off, engulfing the site in flames and causing widespread destruction.

–IANS