A tribute to Lokesh Venkat

21 March 2008 ........ 4:25 P.M. ->  Loki RIP

Update #2:

NTSB's reports :

• NTSB's interim report on the crash 
• NTSB's final report on the crash

Other News and Articles on this unfortunate accident :

• http://saulsse.com/2008/03/23/a-loss-before-the-weekend/
• http://www.sify.com/news/pilot-from-tn-killed-in-georgia-plane-crash-news-others-jegn7yjgife.html
• http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/2-dead-in-floyd-county-plane-crash/nJSsZ/
• http://www.aero-news.net/aNNTicker.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=f3b1f118-4ce2-429a-9db7-0081f457d7b8

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Update #1

If there was a guy who knew how to live life king size, it was Lokesh. An amazing attitude which made him get along well with every type of person. He was an amazing pilot, a very helpful person who always had solutions to your problems, always cheerful and a very big fan of Vijay Mallya. He had dreams of being a superlative pilot with the aim of eventually flying A380 with KFA. He also helped several aspiring pilots and guided them to success.

The unthinkable has happened, proving the unpredictability of life. I hope that God gives the strength to his family members to bear the unbearable pain of this tragedy. Unfortunately for us, the plane on which Lokesh was flying did not have a CVR or a FDR, so we will not be able to get the exact causes of the tragedy. I hope that NTSB is able to uncover the causes behind this tragedy.

Lokesh's Orkut Profile : http://www.orkut.com/Profile.aspx?uid=18214813016370570004

A Community dedicated to remembering Loki : http://www.orkut.com/Main#Community?cmm=46924220

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The pictures below are from my first, and unfortunately only flight with Lokesh Venkat. It was a great experience flying with him because he had the correct balance of being meticulous and having fun at the same time. He displayed all the qualities of a good pilot and I never felt that he was a 'student' pilot. What I am certain of, is that had Loki been with us, he would have been a great pilot. Other than having good piloting skills, he had a very outgoing personality. He was the kind of friend with whom you could talk about anything and be assured of being engaged in a well thought out discussion. Not a moment with him was boring and his sense of humor was worth emulating.

I had talked to him a few days before he passed away, I was in Vegas and we were planning to go to another flight when I would get back to Atlanta. He was very excited about coming back from India, after attending his sister's marriage. Also, he was nearing the end of his training and raring to become a commercial pilot for Kingfisher Airlines. This was because he had a lot of respect and admiration for Mr. Vijay Mallya and his achievements.

He left us doing what he loved to do ..... flying, flying faster and higher...

Our flight was from PDK to MDQ at Hunstsville, Alabama, and it was on January 04, 2008, and it was my first flight in a Light Sports Aircraft.

After landing at MDQ - Loki posing infront of a sleek Gulfstream

Loki managing the controls of N841 AA

Loki infront of the terminal at MDQ

Loki, aligning N841 AA for landing

Loki, checking fuel before taking off from PDK

Cupcake - finally !

After waiting for what seems like forever, I finally intalled the Cupcake update on my G1. I used the website below for performing the update, as it seems to have really simple steps to install the update.

http://www.androidcentral.com/how-manually-install-android-15-cupcake-us-version

I need some more time with the Cupcake to post a personal review of the same, however, we already know it's awesome, right ? :P

For a list of what improvements the Cupcake brings to the table, look at the site below:

http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-1.5-highlights.html

Happy Android'ing !

Planning vis-a-vis Execution...

Sometimes , when someone asks us: "Hey, you were going to do this task 'x-y-z', did you do it yet ?", we reply by saying that even though I have not done the task yet, but I am "planning" to do it in the future. It is at times like these that we must reflect and think if we were really planning to do that task in the future, or was that statement used more like an excuse.

One must always consider that a person is always recognized and remembered by what he or she has already "done", not by what he or she "plans" to do. For example, let's take the case of Mahatma Gandhi's famous Dandi march. Suppose, that it so happened that Mahatma Gandhi expired a few months before the march. Assuming here for a moment, that the Dandi march was until then, Mahatma ji's largest venture, would we remember him by saying, "Mahatma'ji was great, because he had planned to undertake the Dandi march"? Would we remember him by saying, "Mahatma'ji was great, because his planned Dandi march would have mobilized thousands of Indians and bolstered the non-cooperation movement?"

I personally believe that we wouldn't have thought so highly of Mahatmaji if his thoughts and ideas had remained crystallized as plans (i.e. never materialized). In other words, his Dandi march was appreciated and recognized, because it did happen, and despite all the hurdles it did get executed. The fact that the Dandi march did happen, and it did mobilize thousands of Indians is something which we give due credits for, to Mahatma'ji. Therefore, plans are not worth the piece of paper they are written on, if the plans themselves are not planned to be executed. The eventual measure of success of planning, are the achieved results and the results are only possible after execution. This post does not serve to undermine the value of planning. I recognize that planning is a very important tool in the success of a project, but planning must always be done with one eye on execution.