Air India Express plane crash: Co-pilot was going to become a father

In the next few days, Akhilesh Kumar Sharma, the co-pilot of the ill-fated Air India Express plane, that crashed at the Kozhikode airport in Kerala on Thursday evening, would have become a proud father.

Kumar's pregnant wife is due for delivery in a few days, according to family sources.

A resident of Uttar Pradesh's Mathura town, about 400 kilometres from here, Kumar was among those killed when the plane skidded off the runway while landing amid heavy rains and fell into a valley.

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A pall of gloom descended on the Sharma family, which lived in the Govind Nagar area in the town, after news of Akhilesh's death in the crash reached them.

People from the locality made a beeline before the house to offer their condolences.

Family members said that Akhilesh had got married two years back. He was survived by his wife Megha, two brothers, a sister and parents.

Akhilesh had joined Air India as a co-pilot in 2017. He had visited his family before the countrywide lockdown in March, they said. His brother Rahul and a relative had reached Kozhikode, sources said.