Who Was Captain Shambhavi Pathak (Image: X)
Captain Shambhavi Pathak was one of the pilots on the ill-fated The Learjet 45 aircraft (registration VT-SSK), that crashed at Baramati Airport on Wednesday morning. The small business jet was carrying Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others when it crashed while trying to land. All five people on board died in the tragic accident.
As per reports, Shambhavi Pathak was serving as the First Officer, sometimes called the co-pilot, on the flight. She had trained hard for many years to be a professional pilot and loved flying. She began her journey in the skies as a student at Air Force Bal Bharati School in Delhi. After finishing school, Shambhavi Pathak went to the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy to learn how to fly commercially. Some reports suggest that she was 25 years old.
She also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics, Aviation, and Aerospace Science and Technology from the University of Mumbai. She also moved to New Zealand for training at the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy. On top of that, she built up licenses and ratings between 2019 and 2019, including a Commercial Pilot License under the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (NZ CAA) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India. Shambhavi Pathak also achieved a “Frozen ATPL,” which shows she had passed the tough theoretical exams needed before becoming the captain of big aircraft in the future.
Reports say that Shambhavi also worked as an Assistant Flight Instructor at the Madhya Pradesh Flying Club, where she helped teach new pilots how to fly. People who knew her said she was disciplined, skilled, and passionate about her work.
On the morning of January 28, the plane took off from Mumbai and was heading to Baramati because Ajit Pawar had political events planned there. As the aircraft came in to land, it lost control, went off the side of the runway, and burst into flames.
After news of the crash spread, many people remembered Shambhavi Pathak with sadness. One person who seemed to know her posted on social media that, “Along with the Deputy CM of Maharashtra, a young pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak the Pilot of the plane also lost her life in the Plane crash. She was a brilliant student, a great daughter, a very loving sibling and a very good friend. This is a personal loss as she was my daughter’s friend from KG class. Prayers”
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