New Delhi: Nineteen-year-old Nisha Sejwal was passionate about flying but little did she know that her dream of becoming a pilot would come crashing down so soon.
Nisha’s last test flight ended in a tragedy early this week. She was among the four trainee pilots who were killed when two small training aircraft from a flight school collided midair in the US state of Florida Tuesday.
Nisha’s Facebook posts revealed her passion for flying. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.#pilotlife,” reads one of her posts of December last year. “Getting high is my job,” reads another post.
Her cousin, Sneha Sejwal, recalled her to be an “ambitious” woman who was looking forward to getting her commercial flying license.
“Nisha wanted to be a pilot and that was her dream. This was her last test flight. After this, she would have received a commercial flying license. She had received a private flying license in April and was quite excited for her last test flight,” Sneha said.
Nisha’s Facebook post of June 11, also showed her passion for flying. “I can’t remember a single time (my parents) ever told me not to do something I wanted to do.#aviationforlife.” One of Nisha’s teachers at DAV Model School (Yusuf Sarai), Charu Singh Bhalla, also recalled about one of her favourite students.
“She faced a delay in getting her US visa last year. But she was determined to go for her course and pursue her dream. In India, it is still considered a big thing for parents to send their children abroad for studies and Nisha was quite thankful for that opportunity. I had met her before she left for the US and she was quite happy,” Bhalla said.
After her schooling in Amity International School, Saket, Nisha joined Dean International flying school in Florida in September last year. Incidentally, Nisha’s cousins Virender and Preeti, are also pilots, who took their training from Dean International Flying School and were also her inspiration.
Sneha had spoken to Nisha last July 6. Because of Nisha’s hectic schedule, they could not speak much. “Nisha was in Delhi for 15 days in February. She had come here to attend a cousin’s wedding and that was our last meeting,” she said.
Sneha said Nisha loved dancing and was always a fun person to be with. Sneha learnt about the incident through a cousin but she was hoping and praying that it was not Nisha who was on that flight. “I got to know about the incident through a cousin. I immediately searched on the internet and watched TV news channels. We were also informed about the incident by her school,” she added.
PTI