Mother of Indian pilot Bhavye Suneja says family has found 'closure' after body identified

A day after Indonesian authorities identified the body of Indian pilot Bhavye Suneja, who captained the ill-fated Indonesian plane which crashed into the sea on October 29, his mother, Sangeeta Suneja, said they have found "closure" and her purpose in life now is to ensure that her son's sacrifice does not go waste.  

On Saturday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in a tweet, announced about the identification of Suneja's body.

The Lion Air flight, with 188 passengers and crew on board, crashed into the sea off Indonesia's island of Java, minutes after taking off from Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport.

"We have found our closure now. Earlier, we were praying and hoping for a miracle when his body was not found. But now, at least we know what happened to him. Sixty-nine people are still missing," she said.

Sangeeta said it will take some for the family before it comes to terms with Bhavye's loss.

"The investigative authorities will inform us about the findings of the preliminary report on the crash on November 27. The (Indian) Ambassador came for the cremation yesterday (Saturday) and his colleagues also came and met us.

"They all spoke about him and even the Parliament here was told that he fought till the end," she said from Jakarta.

Suneja was flying the Lion Air flight JT610 which lost contact with ground officials, 13 minutes after taking off from an airport in Indonesia, and crashed into the Java Sea. Suneja, who was from Delhi, completed his studies at Ahlcon Public School in Mayur Vihar, He received his flying licence in 2009. He married in 2016 and was based in Jakarta.

(With PTI inputs)