Darryl Castelino (born November 2, 1975) was a wing commander of the Indian Air Force. He was posted in Barrackpore Air Force station in West Bengal under the Eastern Command.
Early life
Hailing from Kinnigoli in Mangalore, the Castelino family had moved to Bombay. Darryl was a student of Holy Cross High School, Kurla (W), Mumbai. His friends said that right from the beginning, Darryl was fond of flying helicopters and it was his dream to serve the nation.
His mother Leena Castelino was intially against his joining the defence forces, but over the years, Darryl's heroic deeds had made her proud of her only son. He would regularly call her up and describe what he was doing, and she would proudly narrate the same to her neighbours, without actually realizing the dangers his job posed.
Chopper crash
Darryl had spent the night before the crash at an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp. He had told people there that he was happy about wearing his dark green jumpsuit for a big operation to "bring in more and more live people."
Darryl was piloting the Mi-17 chopper, which was carrying 20 Air Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and National Disaster Response Force personnel onboard. The chopper was moving towards a temporary air base in Gauchar in Uttarakhand, when it crashed near Jungle Chatti, north of Gaurikund. The chopper was on its way back from a rescue mission in Kedarnath. Bad weather is suspected to have caused the accident.
Libert Olivera, Darryl’s brother-in-law, said "The body was unrecognisable. They had to take DNA samples to identify his body. We were told that it was the locket of Mother Mary, which he was wearing, that made it somewhat easy to identify his body. Apparently, he was the only Christian on the chopper."
The Indian Air Force later confirmed that among the dead were its five personnel on board - Darryl Castelino, Flight Lieutenant K Praveen, Flight Lieutenant Tapan Kapoor, JWO AK Singh and Sergeant Sudhakar Yadav, all from the 157 Helicopter Base in Barrackpore, West Bengal.
Funeral
The body was brought to Mumbai at 7:45 AM, Saturday, on June 29, 2013 in a coffin wrapped with the national flag, and was taken to Nanavati Hospital. The Castellino family planned to bring the body home by 1 PM the next day on Sunday. Late Saturday afternoon, a team of officers from the Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Barrackpore visited the Castelino residence in Vakola with some paperwork and a bag of personal effects that Castelino had taken with him. After the IAF officers left, assistant commissioner of police Zunjarrao Gharal visited the house. Gharal said, "We recieved calls from the offices of some political leaders asking for the details of the funeral. We are making preparations with the assumption that the Chief Minister and home minister might attend. A lot of personnel will be used for bandobast duty, but we have not called for reinforcements from other agencies."
The funeral service was held at St. Anthony's Church in Vakola at 3 PM on June 30, 2013, after which the burial took place at Our Lady of Egypt Church's cemetery in Kalina.
Personal life
He was married to Jyothi Castelino, and they had two children, 7 year old son Ethan and 4 year old daughter Angelina. Darryl was a very social person. His freinds say, "During Christmas he would return home, and often play the Santa for kids." His last visit was during the Christmas of 2012. Darryl was known fondly as Castro Dayawan within family circles.
External links
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| Darryl with his wife Jyothi © Daijiworld Media |
Hailing from Kinnigoli in Mangalore, the Castelino family had moved to Bombay. Darryl was a student of Holy Cross High School, Kurla (W), Mumbai. His friends said that right from the beginning, Darryl was fond of flying helicopters and it was his dream to serve the nation.
His mother Leena Castelino was intially against his joining the defence forces, but over the years, Darryl's heroic deeds had made her proud of her only son. He would regularly call her up and describe what he was doing, and she would proudly narrate the same to her neighbours, without actually realizing the dangers his job posed.
Chopper crash
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| The chopper crash |
Darryl was piloting the Mi-17 chopper, which was carrying 20 Air Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and National Disaster Response Force personnel onboard. The chopper was moving towards a temporary air base in Gauchar in Uttarakhand, when it crashed near Jungle Chatti, north of Gaurikund. The chopper was on its way back from a rescue mission in Kedarnath. Bad weather is suspected to have caused the accident.
Libert Olivera, Darryl’s brother-in-law, said "The body was unrecognisable. They had to take DNA samples to identify his body. We were told that it was the locket of Mother Mary, which he was wearing, that made it somewhat easy to identify his body. Apparently, he was the only Christian on the chopper."
The Indian Air Force later confirmed that among the dead were its five personnel on board - Darryl Castelino, Flight Lieutenant K Praveen, Flight Lieutenant Tapan Kapoor, JWO AK Singh and Sergeant Sudhakar Yadav, all from the 157 Helicopter Base in Barrackpore, West Bengal.
Details of Darrryl on Marathi channel ABP Majha
Funeral
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| Coffin of Darryl draped in the Indian tricolour © MiD DAY |
Darryl's body in the truck on Marathi channel ABP Majha
The funeral service was held at St. Anthony's Church in Vakola at 3 PM on June 30, 2013, after which the burial took place at Our Lady of Egypt Church's cemetery in Kalina.
Personal life
He was married to Jyothi Castelino, and they had two children, 7 year old son Ethan and 4 year old daughter Angelina. Darryl was a very social person. His freinds say, "During Christmas he would return home, and often play the Santa for kids." His last visit was during the Christmas of 2012. Darryl was known fondly as Castro Dayawan within family circles.
External links
- Wing Cdr Darryl’s funeral today afternoon
- IAF rescue pilot Darryl Castelino's family arrives in Mumbai for funeral
- Wing Cmdr Darryl Castelino won't be laid to rest today
- Join the force like me: IAF officer's last words to his nephew
- Braveheart pilot's funeral today
- Body of U’khand pilot to arrive today
- Castelino’s funeral likely to be held in Mumbai on 28th
- Kin mourn Wing Commander Darryl Castelino
- Uttarakhand: Darryl Castelino, the air force officer who died in a chopper crash, to be buried today
- Humble, left a lasting impression: Neigbours remember Wing Commander Darryl Castelino
- Wing Commander Darryl Castelino of Kinnigoli origin loses life in Uttarakhand chopper crash
- Darryl Castelino commander from Kinnigoli dies in MI-17 the chopper that crashed
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