Following the tragic Air India flight AI-717 crash, touching stories of the passengers onboard are emerging. Among them is the story of Payal Khatik from Himatnagar, Gujarat.

Payal, the daughter of a loading rickshaw driver, embarked on her first international journey by boarding the Air India Ahmedabad-Gatwick flight. Sadly, the flight crashed shortly after takeoff, claiming the lives of all 230 passengers.

She was the first in her family to fly abroad, heading to the UK to pursue a Master's degree in engineering and technology.

After bidding farewell to Payal at 10 am, her family returned home. Tragically, she was among the 241 individuals who perished in the devastating plane crash.

The Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed into a medical college building, resulting in a total of 274 fatalities.

Payal's demise was confirmed through DNA analysis a day after the incident, prompting ongoing investigations into the cause.

Her father, Suresh Khatik, expressed, "After completing her college, she stayed with us... she wanted to study further in London. So we took out loans to support her education there..."

He had hoped that Payal's future job would enable them to repay the loans and sustain the family. However, her untimely death has left them in a dire financial situation.

Payal's cousin Bharat Chauhan shared, "She was the first member of our family to travel abroad... she was going to London. She completed her BTech from Udaipur and was going for MTech. But this tragic incident happened. Our family is deeply saddened..."

Originally from Udaipur, Rajasthan, Payal attended school in Himatnagar and supported her family by tutoring students, given their financial struggles.

On the ill-fated Air India flight AI717, which crashed after takeoff from Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick, only one person survived out of the 240 individuals onboard.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is conducting checks on the nation's 787s, with a special team investigating the crash's non-technical aspects over the next three months.

India's accident investigation bureau is handling the technical inquiry into the deadliest aviation disaster in over a decade, with assistance from investigative teams from the UK and US.