Plane plummets to Earth, a phone call that never came

AN old and ailing father in Mumbai realises it's futile to wait for his son to come home and take care of him. The son, Pilot-in-Command Sumit Sabharwal, died in Thursday's Air India plane crash.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi

He phoned his dad before the flight to London. "I'll call you once I reach London." He barely made it to the perimeter of the airport before the Dreamliner plummeted to Earth.

Three days back, the younger Sabharwal had a heart-to-heart chat with his dad. The conversation must have thrilled the old man, who lived alone after his wife passed away a couple of years ago. Sumit told him that he wanted to stop flying and take care of his father. The son was a bachelor.