HAL Tejas plane crash: Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Afshan Akhtar paid her last respects to late husband and IAF pilot Wing Commander Namansh Syal on November 23, ANI reported.
She saluted Syal’s body and mourned as the last rites were performed in Himachal Pradesh. Syal lost his life after an indigenous Tejas multirole light combat aircraft (LCA) crashed during an air display at the Dubai Air Show on 21 November.
On November 21, the IAF and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu identified Syal as the pilot who lost his life in the unfortunate crash earlier that day. According to Sukhu, Syal hailed from the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.
Mortal remains taken to ancestral home for last rites
Syal’s mortal remains were airlifted to his native home in Himachal Pradesh on November 23 after a brief halt at an air base near Coimbatore, PTI reported citing details from the IAF.
His remains were brought to Sulur Air Force Base in Tamil Nadu early on November 23 in an IAF C-130 aircraft where they were received with full military honours, he added.
“The Indian Air Force conducted a ceremonial repatriation of the mortal remains of Wing Commander Namansh Syal, who sustained fatal injuries in an accident during an air display at the Dubai Air Show 2025,” the IAF said in an update dated 23
“After a dignified ceremony (at Sulur), the remains have now been taken to the family residence in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh for last rites with full military honours. All Southern Air Command personnel stand in solidarity with the bereaved family at this time of deep loss,” it added.
(With input from agencies)
