Air India plane crash: Grieving families, friends reel under shock, disbelief
Jun 13, 2025
MUMBAI: A good member of society is how a family friend of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, one of the pilots of the ill-fated Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad, described him, expressing shock and disbelief at his death.
Captain Sabharwal was among 265 people killed in Thursday's deadly accident, which saw a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft (AI171) with 230 passengers and 12 crew members crashed into the complex of a medical college moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon.
Sabharwal lived with his father, Pushkaraj, in the Powai area in Mumbai. Pushkaraj had earlier served with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Wing Commander (Retd) Sanjay Pai, a family friend, described Sabharwal as a "good member of society" and said the community was reeling under the news of his demise.
"When society members learned about his death yesterday, we all went into shock. Many people came to meet his family. It is hard to believe he is gone," Pai said.
Deepak Pathak, one of the crew members who perished in the crash, hailed from Badlapur in Thane district but had recently moved to Ghatkopar to ease his daily commute.
Pathak was a committed professional with over a decade of service in the aviation sector, said a family friend.
"Deepak worked in the sector for nearly 11 years. His father had recently recovered from an illness and was discharged from a hospital. It is a painful incident for all of us," he said.
Friends of Irfan Shaikh, a crew member from Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune district, said the 22-year-old had only recently come home to celebrate Eid.
"Irfan was very social, friendly and respectful. We learned about the crash through news channels. His parents and elder brother Amir reached Ahmedabad on Thursday night," one of his friends said.
Aparna Mahadik resided in a housing society in Goregaon, Mumbai, where several airline staff lived.
"When we learnt of the accident, we prayed no one from our building would be involved. But sadly, I was wrong," Mahadik's neighbour Akhilesh Chaube said.
The tragedy also struck the family of Javed Ali, a Mumbai-born man who had come from London with his wife Mariam, a UK national, and their two children, Zian and Amin.
All four died in the crash on their way back to the UK.
Ayub Shaikh, his maternal uncle, said, "Javed had been living in London for a few years. I am waiting for the DNA test to be completed. It is my honest wish to take their remains to Mumbai to give them a proper burial."
