Air India Crew Member Called For Emergency Duty While on Leave Dies in Plane Crash, Family Mourns

• Deepak Pathak, an Air India cabin crew member, was called for emergency duty while on leave and ended up on the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed on June 12, 2025
• The plane, which was headed for London's Gatwick Airport, crashed shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, India
• Only one survivor was found among the 242 people on board, and Deepak's family mourned him and shared details about his job

An Air India cabin crew member, Deepak Pathak, who was called for emergency duty while on leave, found himself on the ill-fated plane that crashed.

An Air India plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, India, on June 12.

The aircraft crashed into the BJ Medical College and Hospital in Ahmedabad and exploded into flames.

The plane was headed for London’s Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom with 242 people on board, and only one survived the crash.

As reported by TOI, Deepak was scheduled for a London trip on June 14 but was called for emergency duty on June 11.

Crew member on emergency duty dies in crash

Deepak had been on sick leave and was scheduled to go on a London trip on June 14, 2025.

However, he got a call from officials who told him to arrive for an emergency duty on June 11.

He left for Ahmedabad and found himself on the ill-fated flight on June 12, a plane he wasn’t assigned to be on in the first place.

Deepak’s family described him as a devoted worker, adding that he would have still been alive if he had refused to resume duty that day.

Family submit DNA for body identification

Deepak’s two sisters left for Ahmedabad on the day of the incident to submit their DNA samples, to enable them to identify their brother’s remains.

The cabin crew member resided in Katrap, Badlapur East, where he lived with his mother, father, and wife for four years.

His cousin, Sachin Khadtale, stated that he was recently promoted from crew member to cabin crew member, adding that he was mostly on international flights and came home every 10 to 15 days.

Khatdale added that when Deepak returned recently, he wasn't in very good health.

Meanwhile, the owners of Air India mentioned the amount they would pay to the families of the victims of the tragic plane crash.

Teenage boy killed by Air India crash

In a related story on Legit.ng, a teenage boy, Akash Patni, who was resting near his family's tea stall, was tragically among those killed in the crash that shook Ahmedabad in India.

When the crash happened, the boy’s mother, Sita, who was unaware that her son was sleeping nearby, managed to run.

Akash’s mother, Sita, survived with injuries and was in the ICU, unaware that her son had died in the tragic crash.

Source: Legit.ng