I’m going to London. Flight is at 1.30 pm. I’ll call you after I land.” These were the last words Air India staffer and Badlapur resident Deepak Pathak, 35, one of the 12 crew members feared dead in the June 12 Ahmedabad plane crash, said to his mother and wife before boarding the ill-fated Flight AI-171.

Pathak, who was on medical leave and scheduled to resume working only on June 14, had received an unexpected email from his office on the morning of July 11, following which, he dutifully packed his bags and left for Ahmedabad immediately. Pathak had been working for the airline for 11 years.

Soon after news of the crash broke, Pathak’s sisters, Varsha and Shrutika, received a call from the airline’s office in Mumbai, asking them to proceed to Ahmedabad. In a state of shock, the women, accompanied by three male relatives, departed immediately, hoping that Pathak had survived.