Five senior Air India pilots die of Covid in May, vaccine drive hit by scarcity

At a time when Air India’s pilots have repeatedly demanded vaccination for crew and their families, it has emerged that at least five senior pilots with the national carrier succumbed to Covid during May.

Official sources in Air India and the pilots’ union identified the pilots who died as Captain Prasad Karmakar, Captain Sandeep Rana, Captain Amitesh Prasad, Captain G P S Gill and Captain Harsh Tiwary.

Tiwary, 37, died on May 30 and was a first officer on the Boeing 777 aircraft. All of them were operating wide-bodied aircraft being flown for overseas flights, and were a part of Vande Bharat Mission.