Kozhikode crash: One boarded his last plane, another missed it in a narrow escape

Pilassery was among the 19 who got killed in Friday’s airplane crash in Kozhikode, however, his wife and daughter escaped with injuries.

Thirty-five-year-old Sharafu Pilassery was working in Dubai in a private firm and had been arranging for flight tickets for many stranded in the UAE amid the Covid-19 crisis. He had fed many people stranded without a job in the Arab country. Pilassery told his relatives and friends in India that he will be coming in the last along with his family, just that it turned out to be his last journey.

An Air India Express flight with passengers on board en route from Dubai skidded off the runway while landing in Kozhikode on Friday.(PTI)

Pilassery was among the 19 who got killed in Friday’s airplane crash in Kozhikode, however, his wife Ameena and daughter Fathima, escaped with injuries. An active social worker among the expatriate community in Dubai, he got many chances to return to the country earlier but insisted on going back once the rush subsided, his friends recalled.

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Four hours before the accident, he posted a photo with his family donning protective shields and masks. “Back to Home” he wrote on his Facebook post as the trio boarded the plane. One of his friends, Shafi Parakkulam, who runs a small hotel, shared a post saying “he was unusually tense” and handed over some money to him asking him to ensure food for the needy. “I even doubt he had some premonition about the impending tragedy. I never thought it will be our last meeting,” wrote Parakkulam paying rich tributes to his friend. Netizens have flooded the social media to pay tributes to him.

Parammal Afsal’s story is different from Pilassery’s. Working in a shop in Dubai, when he arrived at the airport to board the Kozhikode-bound ‘Vande Bharat’ Air India flight on Friday, he realised that his visa period was over by a few hours.

The airport authorities asked him to produce his employment details and other formalities. He immediately rushed to procure them from his room but by the time he returned, the boarding was closed and he was bluntly told to take the next flight. The delay saved his life.

The 27-year-old was planning to return for his marriage which was fixed last year. Dejected, he called his relatives back home and returned to his room. Soon relatives called him to say that it was a miracle he missed the flight. Now he is planning to take the next flight to Kannur, Kerala. It is a two-hour journey from Kozhikode to Kannur. A small state, Kerala has four international airports, thanks to its teeming migratory skills.