Sabarkantha (Gujarat) [India], June 13 : A father's hope for his daughter to succeed in life through education was crushed after the Ahmedabad plane crash, which killed her along with all others on board except one passenger in Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Payal Khatik was on her way to pursue an M.Tech course at a college in London.
Talking to ANI, a relative of Payal Khatik described how her father struggled to find the money for his daughter's education in London. The relative said that her family placed great hope in her future.
"Our relative Payal Khatik was in that flight. She was the daughter of our relative Suresh Khatik. We all went to see her off for her flight. When we learned about the plane crash, we travelled again to Ahmedabad," the relative told ANI.
"Our DNA samples have been taken...The financial condition of the family is not good. Suresh Khatik supports his livelihood by pulling a loading rickshaw. Payal used to take care of the family by giving tuition to the students. ..They took loans from the community and other places to support her education in London," he added.
Another victim, Sanket Goswami, who was also heading to London to pursue higher education, was onboard the AI-171 plane, which crashed soon after it took off from the Ahmedabad International Airport, into a medical college complex in Meghaninagar nearby.
The victim's family, residents of Mehsana, said Sanket was passionate and was travelling to London to pursue higher studies.
"My nephew lost his only son, Sanket Goswami. He was going to London to study. He was an enthusiastic boy. he has a younger sister," his relative said.
The AI-171 Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 aeroplane bound for London's Gatwick had crashed shortly after it took off from the Ahmedabad International Airport on Thursday. The airlines said only one out of the 242 people on board the aircraft survived the crash.
The aircraft was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with 8,200 hours of flying experience, assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 flying hours.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is a division of the Ministry of Civil Aviation tasked with probing aircraft accidents in India.
A formal investigation has been launched by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) into the deadly crash of Air India flight 171 that killed 241 people onboard, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed on Thursday.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), a federal agency authorised by Congress to investigate civil aviation accidents in the United States (US), is gearing up to send a team of investigators to India to assist with probing the deadly Ahmedabad plane crash.
The Tata group-owned airline has set up a dedicated passenger hotline number, 1800 5691 444, to provide more information. Those calling from outside India can call +91 8062779200.