(MENAFN- Live Mint) HAL Tejas aircraft crash: Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Afshan paid her last respects to deceased husband and IAF pilot, Wing Commander Namansh Syal on 23 November, ANI reported.

She saluted the body of Syal and mourned as the last rites took place in Himachal Pradesh. Syal lost his life in the LCA Tejas crash in Dubai on 21 November.

The IAF and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on 21 November identified Syal as the pilot who lost his life in the HAL Tejas fighter jet crash at the Dubai Air Show 2025 earlier the same day. According to Sukhu, Syal hailed from Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh.

Watch: Wing Commander Afshan mourns deceased IAF pilot Namansh Syal

Mortal remains taken to ancestral home for last rites

The mortal remains of Wing Commander Namansh Syal, who was killed during an aerial display at the Dubai Air show, were flown to his ancestral home in Himachal Pradesh, after a brief halt at the Air Force base near here, the IAF said.

Syal was killed on November 21 after the indigenous multi-role Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, crashed during the aerial display.

On Sunday, the mortal remains were brought to Sulur Air Force Base in Tamil Nadu and they were received with full military honours.

"The Indian Air Force undertook the solemn repatriation of the mortal remains of Wing Commander Namansh Syal, who sustained fatal injuries in an accident during the aerial display at the Dubai Air Show 2025," the IAF said in an update on Sunday.

An IAF C-130 aircraft was engaged in carrying the mortal remains of Syal, to the Indian Air Force, Southern Air Command. It was received with full military honours, IAF said.

"To the mortal remains of Wing Commander Namansh Syal, who laid his life in line of duty, Coimbatore District Collector, Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar laid a wreath at Air Force Station this morning," sources said.

In an update later in the day, IAF said the mortal remains were flown back to his ancestral home in Himachal Pradesh for the last rites.

"After a dignified ceremony (in Sulur), the mortal remains have now been flown to the family's ancestral home in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, for the last rites with full military honours. All personnel of Southern Air Command stand in solidarity with the bereaved family in this moment of profound loss," it said.

Sulur Air Force Station is an air base of the Indian Air Force located near Coimbatore. It is operated by the Southern Air Command.

(With inputs from Agencies)

MENAFN23112025007365015876ID1110384819