Pilot drowns at Reynolds Ponds

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This article was published 11/06/2021 (1513 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A late-afternoon swim to beat the heat ended in tragedy Friday, cutting short the life of a talented young pilot who had just begun a promising career in the skies.

Sandeep Bandaru drowned Friday, June 4 at Reynolds Ponds during a swim with two friends.

Steinbach RCMP responded at 7 p.m. to the popular swimming hole, located northeast of Richer.

All three friends were in the water when Bandaru, 24, attempted to swim out to a small island about 100 yards from the shore, Manitoba RCMP said Monday in a release.

He turned around and headed for shore but went under before his friends could reach him. A search by officers, with help from civilian boaters, was unsuccessful. RCMP divers recovered Bandaru’s body the next day.

Harv’s Air announced Bandaru’s death in a Saturday Facebook post.

“Sandeep was an excellent flight instructor at our Steinbach base and a wonderful and kind young man who will be dearly missed by the staff and students. We pray for his family and friends in this difficult time.”

The sudden and unexpected loss of a popular flight instructor continues to send “saddened shock” through the tight-knit flight school, operations manager Adam Penner said Tuesday by phone.

“We just feel so choked up.”

Penner said Bandaru arrived at Harv’s Air in April 2019 and completed his pilot training the following year. In September, he accepted a job offer from the school.

“He was a good communicator, so we offered him a position as a flight instructor,” Penner said.

The job is a good way for new pilots to accrue the flight hours needed to further their career with an airline. Bandaru’s ambition was to do just that, Penner said, and to become a permanent resident of Canada.

Bandaru’s family is now arranging to fly his body home to India. By Monday, an online fundraiser to cover the associated costs had surpassed its goal of raising $40,000 US.

Organizer Sanjay Bandaru wrote online that his brother was a strong swimmer who had flown for a few hours that morning before heading out to the ponds.

Penner said Bandaru’s two swimming companions were fellow flight instructors. Students from India make up the school’s biggest cohort of students.

“He was a very friendly guy, very personable, very interested in life, and energetic and fun to be with. He was well-liked by the staff and the students here.”

Penner said the school has been offering on-site counselling to distraught students and staff and plans to hold a memorial when pandemic restrictions permit. He thanked the community for its outpouring of support.