Pinky Mali, a resident of Worli in Mumbai, was the flight attendant in the crashed flight. (Express Photo)
Relatives and neighbours gathered outside a flat in Worli on Wednesday after it emerged that 29-year-old cabin crew member Pinky Mali was on board the aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar that met with an accident earlier in the day. Inside the house, her mother and elder sister were inconsolable.
Pinky’s father, Shiv Kumar Mali, said the last time he spoke to his daughter was on Tuesday evening. “She told me she was going to Baramati with Ajit Pawar and from there would travel to Nanded,” he said. “She left early this morning. I learnt about the incident when news of Ajit Pawar’s aircraft crash appeared on television. When my daughter’s name flashed on breaking news, we realised we had lost her.”
Pinky was married and lived in Pune with her husband, where her husband worked as a manager in a private firm.
The family said they were awaiting official information on the cause of the accident. “There is a black box in the aircraft and the exact reason will be known only after investigation. It could be a technical fault or something else. But for us, we have lost our daughter,” Mali said.
Mali said his daughter’s career as a cabin crew member was the fulfilment of a long-held dream. In 1989, he had worked as a dry cleaner at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, where he lost his job after making a mistake while servicing an aircraft carrying then Prime Minister V P Singh. “I requested the authorities to give me another chance, but they said there could be no leniency as it was the Prime Minister’s flight,” he said.
He said he often narrated the incident to Pinky. “She would say she would fulfil my dream,” he recalled. After completing her Higher Secondary Certificate in English medium, Pinky chose to pursue a career as a cabin crew member instead of modelling, at her father’s insistence.
She had earlier worked with a domestic airline for three years before joining a private carrier. According to a local resident, Pinky had recently met Ajit Pawar and told him that her father had been associated with the NCP for several years before switching parties. “She gave him her father’s mobile number. Ajit Pawar later called him, but he could not take the call as he was driving his taxi. Subsequently, his personal assistant sent a message saying he would meet him in Mumbai,” the resident said.
Her younger brother, Karan Mali (23), said she had only informed him that she would be travelling from Baramati to Nanded. “She did not express any anxiety,” he said.
Cousin Atul Mali (24) said Pinky had been a pillar of support for the family after the death of his mother last year. “She told me she would always look after me and my younger siblings. She was very caring and spoke to us at least once a week,” he said. “Every morning I send her a message saying ‘Jai Shree Ram’. Today, at around 6 a.m., she replied, ‘Jai Shree Ram’.”
Pinky is survived by her parents, her husband, her elder sister Preeti, who lives in Thane, and her younger brother Karan, who has completed his education and is currently looking for employment.
The family has been residing for the past six months in a rented flat on the 18th floor of a Century Mill MHADA building in Warli. Earlier, they lived on the 12th floor of the same building. Mali owns a flat in a cooperative housing society in Lower Parel, which he has rented out.
Neighbours continued to arrive at the residence through the day to offer their condolences as the family awaited further information from the authorities.
Curated by James Chen
