Two Keralites die in chopper collision

THRISSUR/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has been confirmed that two Keralites—Squadron leader Manoj V. Nair of Thiruvananthapuram and Flight Lieutenant Sreejith Maloor (24) of Thrissur—among nine IAF officers were killed when the two Mi-17 helicopters were involved in a mid-air collision near Jamnagar, Gujarat, on Thursday.

The body of Sreejith will be brought to his homeland on Saturday. Because Manoj and his wife had been settled in Coimbatore, his body will be buried there on Saturday evening. Manoj’s body was brought to Coimbatore in a special aircraft of IAF.

Sreejith joined IAF against the wishes of his parents. He joined the National Defence Academy in Pune after relinquishing his engineering studies at Bangalore. He has been serving for 2 years. He is the son of Krishnankutty Nair-Umadevi couple from Thrissur.

Manoj is a native of Pazhayakarakkamandapom near Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram district of KeralaManoj is the son of K. Viswambharan Nair, a former air force officer, and V. Sujetha. Rajalekshmi, who is also an air force officer, is Manoj’s wife. They have a four years’ old daughter Sharanya.