A 24-year-old flight attendant from Nhava village in Panvel was among those feared dead in the horrific plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon.
Villagers gathered at the house of Maithili Moreshwar Patil after news of the tragedy started dominating news headlines, with most recollecting the hard work she put in to pursue her dreams in the aviation sector despite coming from a humble background.
Having studied in TS Rahman Vidyalaya till Class XII, she enrolled in an aviation course and got the full backing of her family despite financial woes, they said.
She landed a job at Air India and had become a source of inspiration for countless young girls in Nhava village and beyond, they added.
"She was our pride. Her achievements gave us immense joy. The news of the accident has numbed all of us," a neighbour said of Maithili, the eldest of four siblings.
Her maternal uncle Jitendra Damodar Mhatre, a former sarpanch of Nhava, was too shocked to speak to reporters.
"She left for work yesterday afternoon. We were told she was on the ill-fated flight. We are all praying," a relative said.
Maithili's mother has reached the civil hospital in Ahmedabad, the kin added.
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