ROURKELA/MALKANGIRI/ANGUL: Family members of Satyambada Patra (27), the ONGC geologist who died in a chopper crash on Tuesday, are yet to come to terms with their tragic loss even as his alma mater - National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R) - has descended into a pall of gloom with the shocking news.
Satyambada’s father Suresh Chandra Patra is a native of Bhuban in Dhenkanal district and is posted as a stenographer in the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies in Malkangiri district where his mother Sabita Sahu is a government school teacher.
Suresh said at around 3.10 pm on Tuesday, ONGC authorities informed him about the accident. But he learnt about his son’s demise at 6 pm. Satyambada had recently come on a holiday and spent quality time with them at Cuttack from June 10 to 20. Before leaving, Satyambada took them to visit Nandankan Zoo in Bhubaneswar. “Little did I realise then that we will lose him after just eight days,” said a teary-eyed Suresh.
Satyambada had married in January last year. His widow Anindita, a final year Masters student in Sambalpur University, is five months pregnant. He completed MSc in Applied Geology from NIT-R and secured 15th rank in the prestigious Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering to join the ONGC.
Expressing grief over the young geologist’s “untimely demise”, Head of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department in NIT-R Prof Jagabandhu Panda said Satyambada was a bright student of the 2016-2018 batch. After qualifying the Joint Admission Test for Masters, he had joined NIT-R.
Similarly, Malkangiri went into mourning after the news of his death poured in. Satyambada had completed his schooling in the district. Family sources said Satyambada’s mortal remains will reach their native place in Dhenkanal in the night.
On Tuesday, a Pawan Hans helicopter of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) with nine people on board crashed into the Arabian Sea, around 50 nautical miles from the Mumbai coast. At least four people including Satyambada died in the mishap.