EBM News English
Leading News Portal in English

Vikrant Massey’s Family Friend And Co-Pilot Clive Kunder Loses His Life In Ahmedabad Plane Crash: ‘My Heart Breaks’


The tragic plane crash incident in Ahmedabad that took place on June 12 has shocked the nation. Bollywood actor Vikrant Massey revealed that he knew the Air India flight’s co-pilot Clive Kunder, who also lost his life in this tragedy. The actor shared that Clive was the son of their family friends. He expressed his grief after learning about the demise of Clive and other people on the flight.

In his Instagram story, Vikrant Massey shared an emotional message and wrote, “My heart breaks for the families and loved ones of the ones who lost their lives in the unimaginably tragic air crash in Ahmedabad today. It pains even more to know that my uncle, Clifford Kunder lost his son, Clive Kunder, who was the first officer operation on that fateful flight.”

Many people misunderstood that Clive was Vikrant’s cousin but he issued a clarification. He added, “Dear friends in the media & elsewhere, The unfortunately deceased Mr Clive Kunder was NOT my cousin. The Kunder’s are our family friends. Request no more speculations & let the family and loved ones grieve in peace.”

The aircraft was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with 8,200 hours of flying experience, assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 flying hours. As per Air Traffic Control (ATC), the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It made a Mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, the aircraft did not respond to the calls made by ATC.

The aircraft crashed outside the airport perimeter immediately after departing Runway 23. Among the 242 passengers on board, only one person survived.

On the morning of June 13, the Prime Minister arrived in the city and proceeded to the site where the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. He was accompanied by Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi and other officials.