Engg told father in morning she was going to fly in a ‘sick aircraft’

Chandigarh, June 29

Hours before the 12-seater aircraft crashed in a crowded Mumbai suburb on Thursday, maintenance engineer Surabhi Gupta — one of the five killed — told her father in Sonepat that she was going to fly in a “sick aircraft”.

“We had a routine conversation before she told me that the aircraft she was going to fly later in the day was sick, in a bad condition,” Surabhi’s father SP Gupta said.

The grieving father wondered who gave the permission to fly a “sick aircraft”. At the same time, he said he was confident that a high-level probe would be conducted and those responsible for the lapse held accountable.

He said Surabhi got married only last year and her husband was also a pilot.

He recalled that Surabhi was often referred to as astronaut Kalpana Chawla by residents in their hometown in Uttar Pradesh. “She was a brave young woman who was fond of heights.”  — PTI

Pilot for 17 years, Maria was a star

Lucknow: Maria Zuberi, ‘Guddo’ for the family, had been flying for the last 17 years. The pilot of the ill-fated aircraft, she was the elder daughter of a reputed doctor from Allahabad, IH Zuberi. Her parents had spoken to her a day before the tragedy and rushed to Mumbai on hearing the news. “Her only child Zainab had just cleared her Class X exam and Maria was really happy. This was no time to go,” her aunt grieved. Maria, who was 48, had been flying chartered plans for various companies in Mumbai. TNS

from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2tUICS6