While the crash of the flight carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has sent shockwaves across the country, two lesser-known names onboard – Shambhavi Pathak and Pinki Mali – also lost their lives in the tragedy.
According to Flight Radar, the flight took off from Mumbai at 8.10 am and it disappeared from radar around 8.45 am. The aircraft crashed at 8.50 am, a police official said.
Who were Shambhavi Pathak and Pinki Mali?
Shambhavi Pathak was one of the pilots onboard the ill-fated Learjet 45 flight carrying Ajit Pawar that crashed today, on January 28.
According to a report in the Times of IndiaShambhavi Pathak was in first officer and was flying with Pilot in Command Sumit Kapoor.
Sambhavi Pathak was the daughter of an Army officer, with a strong academic background. According to the reports, Shambhavi Pathak studied at Air Force Bal Bharati School. For her graduation, she studied Aeronautics, Aviation, and Aerospace Science and Technology from the University of Mumbai.
She also trained at New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy.
Pinki Mali, according to the media reports, was accompanying Ajit Pawar to Baramati as a flight attendant. Pinki Mali was a resident of Bhainsa village in Kerakat tehsil of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Pinki Mali got married just four years ago, a report in Amar Ujala mentioned. She had been working as an air hostess for the past eight years and mostly worked in chartered planes.
NDTV spoke with her parents after the news of Ajit Pawar’s plane crash sent shockwaves. Her mother said she spoke to her every day, but there was no call today.
How it happened
The Learjet 46, operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures, crash-landed at the Baramati airport early today.
There were five passengers on board the Learjet 45 aircraft when the incident happened. They were – Deputy CM of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar, his PSO, one attendant and two crew members (pilot in-command and the first officer).
Ajit Pawar, 66, was traveling to Baramati from Mumbai to address public meetings as part of the campaign for the February 5 zilla parishad elections in the state. Ajit Pawar is survived by wife Sunetra, a member of Rajya Sabha and two sons, Parth and Jay.
Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, said that after the crash, there was a fire and a blast. “People onboard were immediately taken to the hospital,” he said.
