‘Nhava woman, part of cabin crew, was inspiration for girls’

Thane: 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 had spoken to her father Moreshwar Patil at 11:30 am. She had promised to call him after reaching London. But fate had willed otherwise,” said her maternal uncle Jitendra Damodar Mhatre.