Kerala nurse killed in plane crash had hoped to build safer future for her children
The news leaves Pullad village in mourning
Police and relatives of a victim of Air India plane crash outside the post-mortem room of a hospital in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. PTI
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Ranjitha Gopakumar, a 39-year-old nurse from Kerala, was among the victims of a tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
A mother of two, Ranjitha had returned to India from the UK just four days earlier to complete formalities related to her government job, hoping to rejoin service after a stint abroad.
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She had come home to Pullad, her native village in this south Kerala district, full of hope—to finalise plans for a new house, and to move her children and elderly mother into a safer, more stable life. But what was meant to be a short trip filled with purpose and promise ended in heartbreak.
Ranjitha had taken the first available ticket to return abroad, boarding the flight from Chennai to Ahmedabad.
It was a connecting journey back to the UK, where she had been working after a brief period in Salalah, Oman.
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Just four days after arriving home, she left again—this time, unknowingly, on her final journey.
“She was happy and hopeful when she left,” said a close relative. “There were so many plans. So many dreams,” he said.
Ranjitha had worked as a nurse in the Kerala government health service but had taken leave to pursue opportunities overseas, hoping to secure a better life for her children -- 15-year-old Indhuchoodan, a 10th-standard student, and 12-year-old Etheka, who is in seventh standard.
After her father passed away some years ago, Ranjitha had taken on the full responsibility of raising her children with the help of her mother, Thulassykuttiyamma.
On the day of the crash, Ranjitha was on her way back to the UK to collect her release certificate from the UK hospital and resume work. But fate struck cruelly. The aircraft crashed shortly after take-off, bursting into flames.
The news left the village of Pullad in mourning.
Neighbours, friends, and relatives have been visiting the family home in silence, offering condolences that feel too small for the scale of the loss.
She is survived by her mother, two children, and two brothers.
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