Air India crash: The crew of the Dreamliner

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, along with crew members, tragically lost their lives in a plane crash.

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 55

The captain of Air India Flight 171 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, London, Sumeet Sabharwal, was one of Air India’s most experienced pilots with 8200 hours of flying logged in. Sabharwal, a resident of Powai, was unmarried and lived with his nonagenarian father. Neighbours recalled that Sabharwal had been a pilot since 1994. “Only a few days ago he told his father that he will be quitting his job to look after him full time,” said Shiv Sena lawmaker Dilip Lande who had come to the Sabhawals’ home to condole. The family, said neighbours, was deeply connected to the aviation industry. Captain Sabharwal’s father had retired from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) while his two nephews are also pilots. “They are wonderful people,” said their next-door neighbour. “Whenever he flew out, Sumeet would ask us to keep an eye on his father. He has now been left devastated.”

Air India crash: The crew of the Dreamliner

First Officer Clive Kunder, 32

Like Captain Sabharwal, First Officer Clive Kunder too belonged to a family steeped in aviation. His mother was a flight attendant with Air India and Kunder grew up at the Air India colony at Kalina before moving to Borivali. Kunder completed his aircraft maintenance course at Bombay Flying Club (BFC) at Juhu. BFC president Captain Mihir Bhagvati tol HT, “Clive was a student of the 2006 batch. He also attended some ground school classes for flying in Florida.” Kunder had 1100 hours of flying under his belt and had worked with a private airline before joining Air India five years ago. Clive, a bachelor is survived by his parents and his sister Kliene, who told HT that they were in Sydney. “My father Clifford and mother Rekha are with me with in Sydney and we have no information on the condition of my brother. We are leaving on Friday for Ahmedabad to find out how he is.”

Flight attendant Aparna Mahadik, 40

Mahadik and her husband Amol both flew for Air India as cabin crew. On Thursday, while Aparna Mahdik was on the flight from Ahmedabad to London, Amol Mahdik flew to Delhi. The family which is related to Nationalist Congress Party leader Sunil Tatkare were big devotees of Karnataka seer Kalavati Aai, recalled a neighbour at their Goregaon home. “Aparna and her husband Amol fell in love while flying for Air India, and they have an 8-year-old daughter who is at present being looked after by Amol’s mother,” said Tatkare’s nephew and NCP spokesperson Sanjay Tatkare.

Flight attendant Deepak Pathak, 35

Deepak Pathak had been flying with Air India for 11 years, an according to neighbours at his parents’ house at Badlapur had got married four years ago and had started doing well. Pathak’s father who was hospitalised until two days ago with pneumonia collapsed upon hearing the news of the crash. “His last message was to our mother saying that he was leaving for the flight,” said Pathak’s sister Shruti. “Since the news of the crash we have been calling his phone incessantly but there is no response and we don not have any official word. One of their neighbours, Ashok Patil, told HT: “Deepak is the kind of son every family would wish for. He was always smiling, respectful, and with no bad habits. It’s unbearable to see the Pathak family in such pain.”

Flight attendant Saineeta Chakravarti, 34

Chakravarti who was unmarried, was the family’s sole bread winner. According to neighbours who had gathered at the cramped apartment at the fishing village of Juhu-Koliwada, Saineeta had attended Mithibai College before becoming a flight attendant. “She used to earlier work at Go Air before joining Air India,” said her friend Nicky D’Souza. Chakravarti’s aunt has gone to Ahmedabad to complete the formalities as her parents were too distraught to travel.

Flight attendant Roshni Songhare, 27

At her home at Dombivali, Songhare’s grieving mother recalled how her daughter loved to fly and which was why “she chose this career.” Songhare grew up in south Mumbai and studied at Saraswati School in Grant Road and later graduated from Bharat College in suburban Mumbai. She completed her cabin crew training course from a private institute in Mumbai before joining SpiceJet. She had joined Air India last year.

The family said Roshni also did some modelling and had a large social media following. The Songhare family had returned from their ancestral village in Ratnagiri for a local festival and Roshni was eager to start flying again. “None of us could imagine that it would be her last celebration at home,” said her brother Vignesh.

Flight attendant Maithili Patil, 22

Maithili Moreswar Patil, a 22-year-old flight attendant from Nhava village in Panvel taluka, is feared to be among the crew members who lost their lives in the tragic plane crash near Ahmedabad.

According to her duty roster, Maithili had flown from Mumbai to Ahmedabad and was scheduled to be on the ill-fated flight bound for London.

The eldest of four siblings, Maithili last spoke to her family around 11am on Thursday. “Her mother, uncle, and cousin have reached Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for identification. A DNA test is underway, and the report is awaited,” said Jitendra Damodar Mhatre, former Sarpanch of Nhava and Maithili’s uncle.

Maithili came from a modest background. Her father, a welder by profession, recently secured contractual work with ONGC. “With Maithili working as a flight attendant, the family’s financial condition had begun to improve,” Mhatre added.

A student of TS Rahaman School in Nhava, Maithili completed her education up to Class 12 and went on to pursue aviation training. She fulfilled her dream by joining Air India two years ago.

Cabin supervisor Shraddha Dhavan, 44

Shraddha Dhavan, 44, was a senior cabin supervisor with Air India and had been with the airline for over two decades. Though she initially pursued an MBA, completing one year of the programme, she ultimately chose to follow a career in aviation—a decision that defined her life.

“She joined Air India 21 years ago and loved her work,” said her brother, Vivek Dhavan. It was during her early years with the airline that she met her future husband, C K Rajesh, a fellow cabin crew member.

The couple lived in Mulund and have a 13-year-old daughter.

“We used to speak often about her flying schedules,” Vivek said, “but over time, those conversations became less frequent.” He added that her husband, C K Rajesh, had left for Ahmedabad, while he himself would be travelling to Mumbai soon. The Dhavan family hails from Mumbai.