Indian-origin student pilot killed in mid-Air crash in Canada

Indian-origin student pilot killed in mid-Air crash in Canada

Mangalore Today News Network

Ottawa, July 10, 2025: An Indian origin student pilot was among the two people who were killed in a tragic midair collision involving two training aircraft in Canada on Tuesday, the Indian Consulate General of India in Toronto said on Wednesday. The crash occurred on Tuesday morning, about 400 metres from a runway used by Harv’s Air pilot school near Steinbach South Airport in Canada’s southern Manitoba.

The dead pilots were identified as a 21-year-old Sreehari Sukesh, a resident of Kerala and his classmate Savanna May Royes, a 20-year-old Canadian citizen. 

"With profound sorrow, we mourn the tragic passing of Mr. Sreehari Sukesh, a young Indian student pilot, who lost his life in a mid-air collision near Steinbach, Manitoba. We extend our deepest condolences to his family. The Consulate is in contact with the bereaved family, the pilot training school and local police to provide all necessary assistance," the Consulate General said in a post on X.

With profound sorrow, we mourn the tragic passing of Mr. Sreehari Sukesh, a young Indian student pilot, who lost his life in a mid-air collision near Steinbach, Manitoba. We extend our deepest condolences to his family. The Consulate is in contact with the bereaved family, the…

— IndiainToronto (@IndiainToronto) July 9, 2025

Sreehari had already obtained his private pilot’s licence and was pursuing his commercial pilot certification, according to local media reports.

Two student pilots were practising takeoffs and landings in small Cessna single-engine planes at the time of the incidents, according to Adam Penner, president of Harv’s Air pilot training school. 

According to Penner, both pilots appeared to have tried to land at the same time and collided a few hundred yards away from the small runway.

Their planes were equipped with radios, but it appears that neither pilot saw the other coming, according to a report by the New York Post. 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) pronounced both pilots dead at the scene and stated that there were no passengers.

Harv’s Air pilot training school, which was started by Penner’s parents in the early 1970s, trains about 400 student pilots a year and has students from around the world-- training for professional and recreational purposes.