REGINA: Two Indian students have been identified as the pilots killed when a light aircraft crashed near Kisbey in Saskatchewan, western Canada, on September 18, according to the Consulate General of India in Vancouver.
The victims were identified as Manoj Sivakumar and Srisaran Thirugnanasambantham, both Indian students from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The Indian consulate expressed its condolences to their families and said it was providing support during the repatriation process.
The Consulate General of India, Vancouver, expresses its deepest condolences on the tragic demise of Shri Manoj Sivakumar and Shri Srisaran Thirugnanasambantham, two Indian students from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, who lost their lives in a tragic air accident in Canada during…
— India in Vancouver (@cgivancouver) September 20, 2026
The two men were licensed pilots who had rented a Cessna 172 from Harv’s Air, a flight school based in St Andrews, Manitoba, for a night flight from Regina to Steinbach, Manitoba, via Carlyle, Saskatchewan.
According to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), the aircraft was reported overdue at about 10:30am CDT on September 18. A search-and-rescue operation was subsequently launched by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Trenton) after the aircraft failed to arrive as expected.
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The crash site was located in a remote rural area near Kisbey at around 6pm CDT, with members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and search-and-rescue technicians attending the scene.
The JRCC later transferred the case to the RCMP. The TSB is leading the investigation into the crash and its cause. The board has said a preliminary summary of the incident is expected to be released soon.
The investigation is expected to examine the circumstances surrounding the aircraft’s flight, the conditions at the time of the crash and other factors that may have contributed to the incident.
