'My sister's death in Kanishka was a crushing blow'

Mumbai: A long time has passed since Air India's Kanishka aircraft, on flight from Montreal to New Delhi exploded in mid-air on 23 June 1985 killing all 329 persons aboard.
But, even today, its mention conjures up painful memories for the victim's families. Among them is TV and film actor Vijayendra Ghatge whose sister perished in the crash.
Ghatge, best known for his roles in Rajashri films Chitchor and Sunaiyna and was seen as Aishwarya Rai's husband in Devdas had told timesofindia.com in an earlier interview that his sister's death was a crushing blow to him and his parents.
Reliving the traumatic moment he said, "I can never forget the fateful day when a friend called to inform me about the plane crash. It was a day of hope and despair as the rescue operations were underway and we were hoping for survivors to be found."
Soon after, their worst fears were confirmed. Later, Air India flew the relatives to the crash site. Sangeeta, who was the baby of the family, worked as a cabin crew with the airline. The family will forever regret the fact that their daughter was not scheduled to fly on that day, "She had specially asked for that flight," said the actor.
03/05/07 Vasundhara Sanger/Times of India

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Categories: Air India May 2007, Foreign May 2007, Safety May 2007