Shikha Garg Had Texted Her Father and Husband before the Fateful Ethiopian Crash
She dialed her father exactly at 10:06 am and she was changing her flight at that time. Just six minutes after the flight took off from Addis Ababa to head towards Nairobi, Kenya, flight ET 302 crashed.
Shikha Garg, 32, was one of the four Indian passengers in the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 that crashed on Sunday. She was a United Nations Development Programme Consultant with the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF). Less than an hour before the flight that was carrying 149 passengers and eight crew members crashed near Addis Ababa, Shikha Garg had made a call to her father.
She dialed her father exactly at 10:06 am and she was changing her flight at that time. Just six minutes after the flight took off from Addis Ababa to head towards Nairobi, Kenya, flight ET 302 crashed. Her father who is a jeweler in New Delhi said, “She was fine and we spoke normally. She was changing her flight then. Hours later, my son read about the plane crash on the internet. I knew my daughter was on that flight.”
Shikha Garg’s social media profile mentions that she completed her Masters in Science from TERI School of Advanced Studies. She briefly worked in an engineering firm till December 2010. Before joining the MoEF, she was working as a senior researcher at the Indian Meteorological Institute. According to her father, she was a brilliant student.
Shikha Garg married her colleague Soumya Bhattacharya less than three months ago after dating for three years. He was also with MoEF. Soumya had planned to go to Nairobi with Shikha but canceled plans last minute. “I have boarded the flight and will call you once I land,” Garg texted. Unfortunately, before Soumya could text her back, he already received a call informing him that flight ET 302 had crashed.
Meanwhile, Shikha’s parents are waiting to receive updates from the ministry of external affairs on the latest updates after the crash. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had taken twitter’s help to reach Shikha’s family. She tweeted, “I am trying to reach the family of Shikha Garg who has unfortunately died in the air crash. I have tried her husband's number many times. Please help me reach her family.”
Several people came forward and took the initiative to connect the minister with Shikha’s family. Finally both the parties connected. Her father said, “The MEA got in touch with us and said they would contact us. After our conversation in the evening, we are still waiting for their call. We are still in the dark and are depending on news channels.” Shikha’s parents were waiting for their daughter to return on March 15. The newly married couple had planned a vacation after Shikha’s return from Nairobi.
Airlines across the world have taken the decision to withdraw Boeing 737 MAX 8 model planes from operating. The Indonesian Lion aircraft that crashed in October with 189 passengers on board was of the same model. Spicejet and Jet Airways operate 17 of these planes. Jet Airways have declared that none of its Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes are operating at present. Indian authorities have ordered increased maintenance checks of these models but didn’t impose grounding.