TRAGEDY

Commercial Pilot, 46, Dies Suddenly During Long Layover

The pilot was slated to fly a long-haul international flight the following day.

A 46-year-old pilot has been found dead in his hotel room during an overnight layover. The sudden death was confirmed Wednesday by Air India, which revealed that Sunny Asladekar died at The Grand Hotel in New Delhi on Sept. 11. Local reports say Asladekar’s brother alerted authorities after he did not answer his phone and that his body was discovered by the hotel manager. Authorities have not released the cause of death, but the Federation of Indian Pilots asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for an urgent review of fatigue-management practices. “While FIP does not seek to establish any direct link between fatigue and the individual fatalities, these events warrant an urgent and comprehensive review of fatigue exposure, rostering practices, recovery opportunities, medical surveillance, and fatigue risk management system (FRMS) effectiveness across Indian aviation operations,” the group said in a statement. People magazine reports that there have been six pilot deaths between November 2023 and September 2026 in India. The Hindustan Times reports that Asladekar was slated to fly from New Delhi to Seoul, South Korea, the next day.