Squadron Leader Lokender Singh Sindhu, one of the two Indian Air Force pilots who lost their lives in the Jaguar fighter jet crash in Rajasthan’s Churu, became a father last month, and had joined back duty on June 30. Lokender Singh Sindhu, a Squadron Leader of the IAF, was killed in the Jaguar fighter jet crash in Rajasthan. (Hindustan Times)

The 32-year-old Air Force pilot hailed from the Kheri Sadh village in Haryana’s Rohtak. His wife Surbhi Sindhu, who is a doctor by profession, gave birth to a baby boy on June 10 at her parental home in Hisar. She was still there when she received news of her husband’s passing.

According to the Squadron Leader’s family, who live in Rohtak’s Dev Colony, the pilot had joined duty on June 30, days after he became a father.

Squadron Leader Lokender Singh Sindhu’s father Joginder Singh had retired as superintendent from Maharshi Dayanand University in 2023, and his mother is a school teacher. His elder brother is employed at a multi-national company.

Lokender is not the only one in the family associated with the Air Force. His sister Anshi recently completed her tenure as short service commissioned officer in the Air Force, and her husband is a wing-commander.

Call to father before last mission

Before Lokender set off for the routine training mission of the Jaguar trainer jet, little did he know it would be his last. He called his father Joginder in the morning before leaving, said his elder brother Gyanendra.

Lokender had shared his son’s pictures in the family Whatsapp group.

Joginder Sindhu describes his son as a “a bright student” since childhood, who always wanted to touch the sky, and become a pilot in the IAF. His family is proud of him.

“He pursued his school education from Maharshi Dayanand University’s campus school and he joined the Air Force in 2011. He was posted at Suratgarh in Rajasthan,” Joginder said.

A Jaguar fighter jet of the Air Force crashed near Rajasthan’s Churu on Wednesday morning, killing two pilots. Apart from Squadron Leader Lokender Singh Sindhu, Flight Lieutenant Rishi Raj Singh, who hailed from Rajasthan’s Pali, also lost his life in the tragic accident.

This is the third accident involving a Jaguar aircraft since March, and the Air Force has assured that a court of inquiry has been constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident.