BELAGAVI: Wing Commander Hanumanth Rao Sarthi who succumbed to the flight crash in Morena was cremated with full state honors on Sunday evening in Karnatraka’s Belagavi.
Two frontline combat aircraft of the IAF suffered a mid-air collision on Saturday morning during a training exercise in MP’s Morena district resulting in the death of Wing Commander Sarathi while two other pilots ejected safely.
The body of the wing commander was wrapped in the Tricolour as the coffin was brought from Morena to Belagavi for his last rites by a special IAF plane. It was then taken to his home town Ganeshpur by road.
Many political leaders paid homage to the departed soul. Later, the mortal remains were consigned to flames with full military honors.
A pall of gloom descended at the residence of Wing Commander Sarathi, an instructor at Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TAC-DE) in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior. He is survived by his wife, a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son.