In Photos: IAF Pilot Killed in Gwalior Air Base Crash, Cremation at Belagavi

Hanumanth Rao Sarathi, 36, was a Wing Commander flying the Mirage 2000 that crashed on 28 January.

Wing Commander Hanumanth Rao Sarathi, from Belagavi, Karnataka, was killed in the IAF fighter jet crash in Madhya Pradesh.

(Image: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

On Saturday, 29 January two Indian Air Force fighter jets that took off from Gwalior Air Base crashed. The jets – Sukhoi Su-30, manned by two pilots, and Mirage 2000, manned by one, – had a mid-air collision. Wing Commander Hanumanth Rao Sarathi, 36, pilot of Mirage 2000 was killed in the accident.

Hanumanth Rao hailed from Belagavi, Karnataka and was based in Gwalior.

Hanumanth Rao's father served in the Indian Army and retired as an Indian Army Captain. Hanumath Rao's brother, Praveen Sarathi, is a pilot in Indian Air Force.

Relatives of Hanumanth Rao were at his funeral held at Ganeshpur in Belagavi. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Rao was laid to rest with full state honours. 

In the past year there have been two major IAF flight crashes. In December 2021 General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff, was killed in a chopper crash. 

The Indian Air Force is investigating what caused the jet crash. Hanumath Rao was commissioned in 2009.