‘He wasn’t supposed to be there’: Family mourns Air India cabin crew who took emergency duty | Mumbai News
THANE: The Badlapur-based family of Deepak Pathak (32), who worked as cabin crew with Air India, said he had not been assigned duty on the ill-fated flight on Thursday. He was on sick leave, and was scheduled for a trip to London on June 14. However, he got a call from officials citing an emergency on June 11, and left for Ahmedabad. The accident occurred on June 12. The family said Deepak was a dedicated employee, but had he refused to resume duty that day, he would be alive today. His two sisters left for Ahmedabad on Thursday. Their DNA samples were taken on Friday to help identify his body. Deepak was a resident of Katrap, Badlapur East, where he lived with his mother, father and his wife of four years. Deepak’s father, Babasaheb, retired from Central Railway 15 years ago, and after retirement, they shifted from Mumbai to Badlapur.Deepak’s cousin, Sachin Khadtale, told TOI he was promoted from crew member to cabin crew six months ago. He mostly worked on international flights and sometimes came home after 10 to 15 days. Recently, when he came, his health was not good.Deepak’s elder sister Shruti said whenever Deepak went on a trip, he used to call his mother and tell her about his trip before taking the flight. Even on the day of the tragedy, he called my mother in the morning from Ahmedabad, and told her he was about to leave for London. That was his last call to his family.Shruti said on Thursday afternoon, when they heard about the crash, they did not believe that Deepak was on the flight. When his phone kept ringing, they got worried. After a while, they got the message that his phone was switched off. When they saw his name in the cabin crew list, they were alarmed.His inconsolable parents were not in a position to travel to Ahmedabad, and his sisters stepped in.
