Flight attendant Pinky Mali was among the five killed in the Baramati plane crash along with Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Wednesday. Her father broke down recalling their last conversation, saying she had promised to call him on Thursday
Wreckage of the plane that was carrying Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others after it crashed in Baramati. (Pic/PTI)
The father of flight attendant Pinky Mali, who was on board the ill-fated aircraft that crashed near Baramati, killing five people including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Ajit Pawar, said his daughter had promised to speak to him "tomorrow"— a moment that will never come.
Expressing his grief, Mali's father Shivkumar broke down as he recalled the last conversation he had with his daughter.
A resident of Prabhadevi in Central Mumbai, Shivkumar said his daughter had informed him about her travel to Baramati.
She reportedly told him, "Pappa, I am flying to Baramati tomorrow (Wednesday) with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. After dropping him, I will go to Nanded and call you once I reach the hotel," according to news agency PTI.
Pinky Mali was an attendant on Learjet 46, operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures, which crash-landed at Baramati airport.
Shivkumar further said that her daughter had flown with the President, various chief ministers as well as several political leaders. He also stated that his daughter was flying with Pawar for the fourth time, PTI reported.
"I spoke to her last evening, and she told me that she would be going to Baramati with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and would then proceed to Nanded. I told her, 'Let us speak tomorrow after your duty.' But that tomorrow will never come," Shivkumar added with a very heavy voice.
Ajit Pawar death: Attendant's father was also an NCP activist
Shivkumar, who is a member of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that Pawar headed, said a local politician named Samadhan Sarvankar informed him about the plane crash.
He said, "I switched on the television. The news left me shocked.”
Shivkumar and Mali had last met on January 16, when she visited Prabhadevi from Thane to cast her vote in the civic polls.
Mali had been working as a flight attendant for the past five years.
She began her career with Air India and moved to private chartered flights after a couple of years, said her father.
"During a recent flight with Ajit Pawar, my daughter complained to him that he was travelling across Maharashtra but was not paying attention to NCP activists. When Pawar asked her why she felt so, Pinky told him that "I have been an NCP worker for 35 years," stated Shivkumar.
"As I was driving a car, the call went unanswered. Then I got a message that Pawar wanted to speak to me," he said. Even that call will never happen, he added.
Ajit Pawar death: Other victims who lost their lives in Baramati plane crash
After learning about the accident, Shivkumar and his family rushed to Baramati. Apart from Pawar and Pinky, the other victims have been identified as Vidip Jadhav, Captain Shambhavi Pathak, and Captain Sumit Kapur.
Jadhav, a police naik attached to the special protection unit of Mumbai Police, had taken off with Pawar and others from Kalina on Wednesday morning. He was a resident of Vitava near Thane.
Captain Pathak was the co-pilot on Learjet 46. According to her social media profile, she had been with VSR Ventures for the past three years. She received commercial pilot training in 2018-19 at the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy Limited, the profile revealed. Captain Pathak has studied Aeronautics, Aviation, and Aerospace Science and Technology at Mumbai University between 2020 and 2022.
(With inputs from PTI)
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