A pall of grief descended upon Mumbai as news emerged that nine Air India crew members and two pilots, all based in the city and its metropolitan area, perished in a tragic incident. Among the deceased were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a veteran pilot,

MUMBAI: Nine Air India crew members and the two pilots who lost their lives were based in the city and the Mumbai Metropolitian Area. As news trickled in, their families struggled to come to grips with the sudden loss of mostly young lives in the line of duty.Captain Sumeet Sabharwal from Jal Vayu Vihar, Powai, an able pilot with Air India since 1994, leaves behind his grieving 82-year-old father. A few days ago, he had vowed to spend more time with him, said an acquaintance.Co-pilot Clive Kunder’s family lived in Kalina and later shifted to I C Colony, Borivli, said his former landlord Kenneth Carvalho. His mother had been an airhostess.In Juhu Koliwada, the mother of cabin crew member Saineeta Chakravarti learned of her death in the evening just as TOI reporters reached the house. Saineeta, who had joined AI recently after serving with IndiGo, was the breadwinner, said a family friend. Her father, a chronic asthmatic, learned of the crash on TV and had stoically tried to shield his wife after she returned from the temple nearby, but was not successful.Cabin crew Aparna Mahadik, 42, is survived by husband Amol, nephew of NCP’s Sunil Tatkare. Amol Mahadik is also an Air India cabin crew member and they lived in Goregaon.

MP Tatkare’s kin among crew members who died

Deepak Pathak, a resident of Badlapur, had been working with AI for 11 years, and got married ony four years ago. Roshni Songhare, cabin crew member and social media influencer from nearby Dombivli, was unmarried. Airhostess Maithili Patil, 22, had a good time with her family in Uran before heading out to Ahmedabad for the London flight.Pilot Sumeet Sabharwal’s sister arrived from Delhi with one of her two sons, who are also reported to be pilots, on Thursday evening to his Powai house. “A few days ago, he made a vow that he was going to take a break to spend time with his father,” said MLA Dilip Mama Lande, after meeting the family of Sabharwal, who had been with AI since 1994. Other pilots in the area said the senior Sabharwal is a former DGCA official.Co-pilot Clive Kunder’s brother Danny but did not receive calls. “Clive’s parents are currently in Australia visiting their daughter who lives there. We are all shocked at his death,” said his former landlord Kenneth Carvalho.PTI quoted Raigad MP Sunil Tatkare as saying: “Aparna Mahadik is the daughterin-law of my younger sister. Her family lives in Goregaon in Mumbai. My nephew, Aparna’s husband, is also an Air India cabin crew member. He was in Delhi. The Mahadik family has been informed about the tragedy.”But Pathak’s family said they had not received any official information from Air India on Thursday. He lived with his wife and parents in Badlapur’s Katrap area.Crew members Nganthoi Sharma K, a Manipur native, Shradha Dhavan and Irfan Shaikh were also feared dead. Saineeta Chakravarti was an air hostess with IndiGo for several years before joining Air India recently, said a family friend. Her elderly parents learned of the tragedy through neighbours and TV news reports. Her father has a history of chronic asthma and suffered an attack, but stoically shielded his wife after she returned from the temple nearby. The family was yet to receive any formal communication from Air India. Fernandes said Saineeta was always accompanied by her parents to the airport when she departed and when she arrived back home. Local activist Larson Fernandes led TOI to the family’s first-floor apartment in the fishing village.Deepak had informed his mother in the morning that he was in Ahmedabad and was going to London. After the incident, his family members kept calling him but his phone remained unreachable. Local BJP leader Ram Patkar told TOI , “Deepak is a family friend and he is very affectionate by nature. Ever since I came to know about the accident, I have been trying to find out about him.”Roshni Songhare, who had recently joined Air India, lived with her parents and brother in Rajaji Path, Dombivli. Her family members said it was her dream to become an air hostess. She had a sizeable following on Instagram, 54,000 followers, and regularly posted snippets of her life.Maithili Patil had enjoyed a good time with her parents Moreshwar, an ONGC worker, and Pramila and younger siblings at her Nhava village home in Uran taluka on Wednesday. Her maternal uncle at Nhava, Jitendra Mhatre, said, “Maithili always wanted to take up an aviation career. She had studied here till Class 12 at TS Rahaman Institute, and later did an advanced course to become an airhostess. She had been working for just two years at Air India. She had last spoken on phone to her father at 11.30am from Ahmedabad, to say that she was on her way to London on that AI flight. After that, we all came to know about the crash. She was a good, talented girl.” Her immediate family members were too shocked to speak.