The last telephone conversation between flight attendant Pinky Mali and her father Shivkumar Mali has come to light after the Baramati aircraft accident that killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other people.
Pinky, who lived in Worli, Mumbai, spoke to her father saying: “Pappa, I am flying to Baramati with Ajit Pawar. After dropping him off, I will head to Nanded. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Shivkumar told her they would speak the following day once her duty was over, but that conversation never happened.
“I told her, ‘We’ll talk tomorrow after your work.’ But that tomorrow will never arrive,” he said.
He said she had been travelling with Pawar on multiple recent journeys. In deep grief, Shivkumar said: “I have lost my daughter. I do not know what exactly happened, as I have no technical knowledge about such incidents. I am completely shattered. I just want my daughter’s body so that I can perform her last rites with dignity. That is all I wish for,” he stated.
The accident took place on Wednesday morning close to Baramati airport in Pune district, involving a Learjet 45 aircraft with registration VT-SSK, operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures.
The aircraft was carrying five people: Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his personal security officer Vidip Jadhav, flight attendant Pinky Mali, Pilot-in-Command Sumit Kapur, and Second-in-Command Shambhavi Pathak.
As per flight records, the aircraft departed Mumbai at 8:10 am and disappeared from radar around 8:45 am, crashing at 8:50 am. Pawar was travelling to address four rallies in Pune district before the February 5 zilla parishad elections.
Emergency services and senior security officials reached the location quickly after the aircraft lost control while landing. Rescue teams were deployed immediately.
A team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) departed Delhi for Pune on Wednesday to investigate the incident.
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