Ahmedabad plane crash Nhava woman was part of cabin crew was inspiration for girls say villagers

Thane, Jun 12 (PTI) A 24-year-old flight attendant from Nhava village in Panvel who is among those feared dead in the horrific plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon had called her father this morning and had promised to do so again after reaching London.
Villagers gathered at the house of Maithili Moreshwar Patil after news of the tragedy started dominating news headlines, with most recollecting the hard work she put in to pursue her dreams in the aviation sector despite coming from a humble background.
Having studied in TS Rahman Vidyalaya till Class XII, she enrolled in an aviation course and got the full backing of her family despite financial woes, they said.
She landed a job at Air India and had become a source of inspiration for countless young girls in Nhava village and beyond, they added.
"She was our pride. Her achievements gave us immense joy. The news of the accident has numbed all of us," a neighbour said of Maithili, the eldest of four siblings.
Her maternal uncle Jitendra Damodar Mhatre (57), a former sarpanch of Nhava, told PTI she was a bright girl.
"She was my niece's daughter. She used to visit my home often. She was so happy at having got a job at Air India. The tragedy is heart-breaking. After having her meals on Wednesday afternoon, she had left for Ahmedabad from where her flight was scheduled," Mhatre said.
"She had spoken to her father Moreshwar Patil at 11:30am. She had promised to call him after reaching London. But fate had willed otherwise," a distraught Mhatre said.
Moreshwar Patil is a contractor with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, he added.

Maithili's parents have reached the civil hospital in Ahmedabad for DNA tests to identify victims, the kin added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)