Pilot killed in Hat Yai air show crash to be promoted
The pilot killed in a crash during an air show in Songkhla on National Children’s Day will receive a seven-step posthumous promotion, the Air Force chief said Sunday.
Squadron Leader Dilokrit Pattawi, 34, would be promoted to the rank of air marshal and would be eligible for a royal decoration, Air Force Commander-in-Chief ACM Jom Rungsawang said. The pilot’s family would also be entitled to a monthly allowance for a military officer killed during an official operation.
Dilokrit, from Wing 7 based in nearby Surat Thani province, was performing at Wing 56 near Hat Yai on Saturday when his JAS-39 Gripen fighter jet crashed as shocked spectators, many of them children, looked on.
Jom chaired a rite of military honour to receive Dilokrit’s body at 1pm yesterday at the Don Mueang military airport in Bangkok. The body had been transported from Hat Yai on a C-130 transport plane.
Earlier Dilokrit’s father, ACM Arom Pattawi who was dressed in full air force uniform, claimed his body from the Songkhla hospital to send his son’s remains for funeral services in Bangkok. The praying rite will be held at Wat Phra Srimahathat from Monday to Sunday and a royally sponsored cremation will be held on January 23.
