Delhi man was piloting crashed Indonesian plane

New Delhi : Bhavye Suneja, the pilot of Indonesian Lion Air Boeing passenger plane which crashed on Monday with 189 people onboard, was a student of Ahlcon Public School in Delhi till 2005.

Sources in the school, located in Mayur Vihar of east Delhi, confirmed that he was an alumnus but did not share further details.

According to Suneja's LinkedIn profile, he received his pilot's licence from the US-based Bel Air International in 2009.

He was associated with Lion Air as an airline pilot since March 2011. Prior to that, he served as a trainee pilot with Emirates for three months in 2010, the profile showed.

However, Emirates in a statement said that the pilot was never an employee or trainee with the airline.

The passenger plane crashed into the Java Sea on Monday shortly after take-off. Authorities said they had not found any survivor.

Suneja was living in Jakarta with his wife while his parents were in Delhi when the disaster took place.

"Our deepest condolences on the tragic loss of lives in the Lion Air plane crash, off the coast of Jakarta today. Most unfortunate that Indian Pilot Bhavye Suneja who was flying JT610 also lost his life... Embassy is in touch with Crisis Center and coordinating for all assistance," the Indian Embassy in Jakarta said in its official twitter handle.