Steinbach flight instructor mourned
Money raised to send body to India
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/06/2021 (1940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Members of a Steinbach flight school are coming to terms with the drowning of an instructor as his family arranges for his body to be returned to India.
Sandeep Bandaru drowned June 4 at Reynolds Ponds, north of Richer, as he swam with two friends.
The three of them were in the water when Bandaru, 24, attempted to swim to a small island about 100 yards from the shore, RCMP said.
He turned around and headed for shore but went under before his friends could reach him. A search by officers, with help from civilian boaters, was unsuccessful. RCMP divers recovered Bandaru’s body the next day.
Harv’s Air announced Bandaru’s death on social media.
“Sandeep was an excellent flight instructor at our Steinbach base and a wonderful and kind young man who will be dearly missed by the staff and students. We pray for his family and friends in this difficult time.”
The death of a popular flight instructor continues to send “saddened shock” through the tight-knit flight school, operations manager Adam Penner said. “We just feel so choked up.”
Penner said Bandaru arrived at Harv’s Air in April 2019 and completed his pilot training the following year. In September, he accepted a job offer from the school.
“He was a good communicator, so we offered him a position as a flight instructor,” Penner said.
The job is an ideal way for new pilots to accrue the flight hours needed to further their career with an airline. Bandaru’s ambition was to do just that, Penner said, and to become a permanent resident of Canada.
An online fundraiser to send Bandaru’s body home has raised US$40,000.
Organizer Sanjay Bandaru wrote online that his brother was a strong swimmer who had flown for a few hours that morning before heading out to the ponds.
Penner said Bandaru’s two swimming companions were fellow flight instructors. Students from India make up the school’s biggest cohort of students.
“He was a very friendly guy, very personable, very interested in life, and energetic and fun to be with. He was well-liked by the staff and the students here.”
Penner said the school has offered counselling to distraught students and staff and plans to hold a memorial when pandemic restrictions permit.
— Steinbach Carillon