Daijiworld Media Network - Kochi (SHP)

Kochi, Oct 4: Two naval officers were killed on Sunday morning in Kochi, Kerala following the crash of an Indian Navy glider.

The deceased have been identified as lieutenant Rajeev Jha and sailor Sunil Kumar, who was a Petty officer (Electrical Air).
"The naval power glider which was on a routine training sortie met with the mishap. It took off from INS Garuda and crashed near Thoppumpady bridge near the naval base at 7 am. Though the officials were rushed to Navy Hospital Sanjivani they have declared brought dead. The glider is being salvaged. A Board of Inquiry has been ordered by the Southern Naval Command into the incident,"(sic) an official said in a statement.

As per sources, one of the officers, Jha (39) is a native of Dehradun in Uttarakhand and is survived by wife and two kids. Meanwhile Kumar (29) is the native of Bihar.

Locals in the area claim that there was no one at the spot where the glider crashed. Therefore, the cause of the crash remains unknown. It being suspected that the glider crashed while returning after training and it is said that glider training takes place routinely in the area.

Earlier in the week, another officer was killed in Karnataka’ Karwar on Friday evening after his glider plunged into the sea.