4 days ago
Mangaluru Roots and Mumbai Beginnings: The Story of Co-pilot Clive Kundar
Mangaluru: Among the crew of the ill-fated Air India Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner (AI‑171), First Officer Clive Kundar—who tragically perished in the crash—was a young pilot with family roots in Mangaluru and a present-day base in Santa Cruz–Kalina, Mumbai .
Clive, aged in his early thirties, logged approximately 1,100 flight hours at the time of the accident. He trained at the Paris Air Inc. flight school in Florida before being inducted into Air India's Dreamliner division. Sources describe him as 'soft‑spoken, highly focused, and deeply passionate about flying', while maintaining strong ties with his coastal hometown of Mangaluru.
He was serving alongside Captain Sumeet Sabharwal (8,200 flight hours) during the aircraft's emergency call and subsequent crash shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad. Clive's tragic death marks a profound loss for both the aviation community and his coastal roots, as investigations into the cause of the crash continue.
