One of the two victims of a Tuesday mid-air crash in southern Manitoba has been identified as a young student pilot from India.
The consulate general of India in Toronto identified the victim as Sreehari Sukesh. In a social media post on Wednesday, the consulate said it is in contact with his family, the flying school where he was a student and police to provide any needed assistance.
The consulate did not indicate Sukesh’s exact age.
The other victim was identified as 20-year-old Savanna May Royes, a Canadian citizen who had always dreamed of becoming a pilot, following in the footsteps of her father, according to a statement from her family.
The bodies of the two student pilots were recovered in the wreckage of their single-engine planes after both crashed mid-air on Tuesday morning near Steinbach, roughly 50 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg.
The students collided when approaching a landing strip while practising takeoffs and landings, said Adam Penner, president of Harv’s Air, the flying school where both pilots had been training.
The Transportation Safety Board, the agency responsible for investigating aviation incidents in Canada, said it is gathering information and assessing the fatal crash.
