A broken dream in flight, who were the doctors Komi Vyas and Pratek Joshi, who died with their children in the air disaster in India

Everyone smiled in their last photo before the air disaster. A selfie taken a few minutes from take -offsitting together on the Air India Flight 171. Komi Vyas and Pratek Joshi, both doctors, traveled with their three children, Miraya, 8 years old, and twins Nakul and Pradyut, 5 years old, excited for the new life that awaited them in London, where they were moving.

But that shot has become a heartbreaking document. Shortly after take off from Ahmedabad, India, the plane directed to London Gatwick lost altitude and fellturning into a fireball. Of the 242 people on board, only one survived: a British citizen.

The family came from Rajasthan. Joshi, a 39 -year -old radiologist, had moved to London a few years ago and worked at the derby and Burton Hospital. Komi had recently left his job at the Pacific Hospital in Udaipur, in Rajasthan, to reunite him: he had just resigned to move with his husband.

“Pratek had returned two days ago to accompany them“, Nayan, a cousin from the victim, told. «Yesterday they went to Ahmedabad to take flight. Several members of the families accompanied them to the airport ».

Komi and Pratek had been married for ten yearstold her brother to Ndtv. They had built a life between work, children and shared projects. That journey represented the fulfillment of a dream: to live together abroad, to offer children new opportunities, start again. The tragedy has turned off everything in an instant.

On board the plane there were 230 passengers and 12 crew members. Just thirty seconds after take -off, the plane began to lose altitude. A few moments e The aircraft crashed on a densely populated residential area in the Meghaninagar district, a few kilometers from the airport And not far from the BJ Medical College campus.

The financial statements of the air disaster is devastating: 241 victims on board and 28 people killed on the ground, for a total of 269 deaths. One survivor: Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, British citizen, sitting near an emergency exit. He suffered slight injuries and was immediately hospitalized. The doctors speak of a “miracle”.

The causes still to be clarified

The plane involved was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner: it is the first fatal accident involving this model. The commander was Smenet Sabharwal, the first officer Clive Kundar: both very experienced, according to official sources.

Joint investigations have been started by the DGCA (the Indian agency for civil aviation), American ERSB, British Aib and Boeing herself. One of the two black box has already been recovered, the other is still in the research phase. In the meantime, the Indian authorities have imposed extraordinary checks on the entire Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 fleet of Air India.

According to some first rumors, all to be verified, The aircraft may have undergone a mechanical failure during the initial phase of the climb. But no track is excluded, including human error. Investigations will take months.