Hours before flying on the ill-fated plane carrying Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, pilot-in-command Captain Shambhavi Pathak had a brief exchange with her grandmother in which he wished her good morning and received a sweet reply from the other end.
“Hi, good morning, Dadda,” Shambhavi had texted her grandmother Meera Pathak, to which the latter replied, “Good morning, Cheeni”, as she was lovingly called, reported NDTV. These were the last texts they exchanged, which later devastatingly became the last ever to be exchanged between the two.
Shambhavi Pathak was one of the five people who died in the plane crash that also killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday morning. The crash happened when the plane was attempting to land at Baramati airport.
Track updates of Ajit Pawar’s funeral here.
Meera Pathak, Shambhavi’s grandmother, lives in Gwalior’s Basant Vihar alone, while their family had recently moved to Delhi. After the news of the tragedy reached her, the grieving grandmother said, “I didn’t know this was the last message”.
Recalling how she received the news, Meera told NDTV, “My eldest son told me there had been a plane crash. Last night, I had even asked him on the phone, ‘Where is Chini?’ She mostly lived in Mumbai. She didn’t call me often. She didn’t even message me usually. I don’t know how she remembered me today.”
Who were the others killed in the plane crash
Apart from Shambhavi Pathak and Ajit Pawar, the plane that crashed on Wednesday evening was also carrying a flight attendant, another pilot, and a police head constable serving as Pawar’s personal security officer (PSO), according to officials.
The plane was flown by Sumit Kapur (62) from Delhi’s Rajouri Garden and co-pilot Shambhavi Pathak (25) from Safdarjung Enclave . Cabin crew member Pinky Mali was also on board, along with Vidip Jadhav, a police head constable and Pawar’s PSO.
Also read: Face not recognisable, locals identified Ajit Pawar by his wristwatch after plane crash
Ajit Pawar’s funeral today
Ajit Pawar’s funeral will be held today in Maharashtra’s Baramati with full state honours, preparations for which are underway at the grounds of Vidya Pratishtan, an education institute set up by the Pawar family.
Among the dignitaries who will attend the funeral are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, and others. A huge crowd, which includes party workers from Baramati and other parts of the state, have gathered in the town to pay their last respects to the late leader.