Sanjana Palkhiwala was one of at least 270 people who died when an Air India plane crashed in the city of Ahmedabad on Saturday. Her father, Saurin Palkhiwala had previously lost a relative in a plane crash
Last week, tragedy struck when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, resulting in at least 270 fatalities.
Among those who perished was 26-year-old Sanjana Palkhiwala, who tragically lost her life en route to a reunion with university mates in the UK. Saurin Palkhiwala, Sanjana’s father and a businessman, knows the agony of air disaster all too well, having a family link to the Indian Airlines Flight 113 catastrophe in 1988, which claimed 133 lives.
“When I got the news of the AI 171 plane crash, shock numbed me, as I had witnessed a crash site before. Instinctively, I knew I had lost my daughter and prayed for her. I rushed home from the office, picked up my wife Sonali, and left for Civil Hospital,” Palkhiwala shared with The Times of India.
He also confided that accepting his daughter’s passing as divine will has been the only solace for him and his wife during such an ordeal.
“Sanjana was born to us 14 years after marriage. My wife is an ardent devotee of Goddess Gayatri, and when Sanjana was born, we were grateful for the divine gift.”
Meanwhile, ex-AAIB crash investigator Captain Kishore Chinta conveyed to the BBC that one of the black boxes might be sent to the United States “to compare the data downloaded in India with that provided to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).”
The first fatal incident involving a Boeing Dreamliner has tragically unfolded with the crash of Air India Flight 171. The cause of the disaster is still a mystery, following Boeing’s troubles that began in March 2019, when the 737 MAX was grounded due to safety concerns.
Flight AI 171’s crew sent out a distress signal after losing power and thrust shortly after takeoff, indicating a severe power outage. The plane was in the air for just about 30 seconds, covering less than a mile before it catastrophically fell from the sky, leading to multiple explosions and an immense inferno.
The devastating crash claimed the lives of 241 passengers and crew on board, along with at least 39 individuals on the ground within the hostel buildings. Ramesh Viswashkumar, aged 40 and the only passenger to survive, recounted the harrowing experience to Indian reporters.
“Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise, and then the plane crashed,” he recounted. “It all happened so quickly.
“When I got up,” he continued, “there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me.”
Viswashkumar, who was sitting in seat 11A, miraculously lived through the ordeal, unlike his brother Ajay, who was also on board but seated in a different row and perished in the crash.