Abu Dhabi man on crashed plane was going for mother’s funeral

DUBAI - Abu Dhabi based Shailesh Brahmavar Rao, who was on board the ill-fated Air India Express aircraft that crashed Saturday morning in India’s Mangalore city, was travelling to India to attend his mother’s funeral.

The Air India Express passenger plane flying from Dubai overshot the runway after landing at Mangalore airport, killing 158 people. There are eight survivors.

Rao’s wife Mavis Corda, who works as a nurse at the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi, was worried about his fate.

“My cousin has gone to the airport and I am just praying to hear some good news,” Gulf News quoted Corda as saying.

Mavis and Rao had flown in an Air India Express Thursday when they returned to the UAE after visiting Rao’s critically ill mother.

“We just returned on Thursday and on Friday we received news that my mother-in-law expired. My husband took the night flight to attend his mother’s funeral,” said a worried Corda.