‘Will call you when I land,’ newly-wed woman in fatal Ethiopian crash texted husband

People stand near collected debris at the crash site of Ethiopia Airlines near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 11, 2019. An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on March 10 morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew believed to be on board, Ethiopian Airlines said.
Michael TEWELDE / AFP

An Indian newly-wed who died in the Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines plane crash had texted her husband she would call him on landing, local media reported Tuesday.

Shikha Garg, who was travelling to attend the annual assembly of the UN Environment Programme, had got married less than three months ago to Soumya Bhattacharya after dating for three years.

Bhattacharya was also supposed to fly with her to Nairobi but a last-minute change in plans meant he stayed back in New Delhi, the mass-circulation Times of India reported.

“I have boarded the flight and will call you once I land,” Garg texted.

But before the husband could type a reply, his phone buzzed and a caller informed him about the plane crash, the newspaper said.

Bhattacharya had also bought a flight ticket for Nairobi but cancelled it because of an urgent meeting.

Planned vacation

The couple, who lived in New Delhi, had instead planned a vacation after Garg’s return from Nairobi.

On Monday Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said she was unable to get in touch with Garg’s family and appealed for help on Twitter.

Later she said she had managed to speak to Garg’s bereaved family members as well as those of other three Indians who died in the crash.

Garg was a consultant with the Indian environment ministry and had taken part in the negotiations leading to the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed just minutes after an early-morning takeoff Sunday from Addis Ababa.

People holding passports from 35 countries were on board including some two dozen UN staff.

The aircraft was the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air plane that crashed in October, killing 189 passengers and crew.

The latest crash has prompted airlines across the world to begin withdrawing the model from schedules.

Indian regulators Monday ordered additional maintenance checks on Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes but ruled out any immediate grounding of the fleet.

India’s Spicejet and Jet Airways together operate 17 of the planes.

Jet, which has had to ground parts of its fleet in recent weeks due to its financial woes, said none of its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was operational at present.