On Air Hostess's Last Flight, Pilot Daughter's Unforgettable Send-Off

An Air India air hostess who wanted her last flight to be piloted by her daughter had her dream come true. Air India pilot Ashrrita Chinchankar is "happy and overwhelmed" to be able to fulfill her mother's dream and carry on her legacy. Ashrrita had the honour of piloting her mother Pooja Chinchankar's last flight as an air hostess with Air India from Mumbai to Bengaluru. In a tweet shared about 23 hours ago, which has since then gone massively viral, Ashrrita wrote that she was "happy and honoured to be able to pilot the one flight that mattered."

"It was my mom's dream to have me pilot her last flight as an Air Hostess with Air India :) As she retires after her glorious 38 years of service, I will be carrying on with her legacy," she wrote, sharing a picture of her smiling mother surrounded by the flight crew.

So happy and honoured to be able to pilot the one flight that mattered. It was my mom's dream to have me pilot her last flight as an Air Hostess with @airindiain :) As she retires after her glorious 38 years of service, I will be carrying on with her legacy #grateful #proud pic.twitter.com/zcUTNCENzj

- Ashrrita (@caramelwings) July 31, 2018

The heartwarming tweet has collected over 9,000 'likes' and thousands of comments since being shared online. While many have commented to say how proud they are of the two women, others have sent wishes and love their way. Among the many people to respond to the touching tweet were Air India, businessman Harsh Goenka and Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha..

#FlyAI : @caramelwings Our heartfelt wishes to your mother and you for this special flight when she passes the baton on to you to have the privilege of serving our passengers with dedication. The legacy lives on. https://t.co/AxJiFllPbv

- Air India (@airindiain) July 31, 2018

An Air India air hostess of 40 years wanted her last flight before retirement to be piloted by her daughter Ashrrita Chinchankar. This came true yesterday. Passengers clapped, the staff cheered. Real life dreams are made by stories like this. #HelloHappiness pic.twitter.com/HXiKSWOcCb

- Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) August 1, 2018

A daughter's priceless gift to her mother.

Dreams took flight as First Officer Ashrrita piloted her Air Hostess mother's farewell flight who retires after 38 years of service with @airindiain.

Congratulations to the mother-daughter duo.https://t.co/hNdmNNcZCU

- Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) August 1, 2018

"I am both happy and overwhelmed. Happy because people can relate to the emotion, and overwhelmed because people are celebrating the goodness," said Ashrrita to BBC.

She also shared a video of the emotional goodbye that her mum received from the cabin crew and passengers on her last flight:

For all of you who asked :) that's mom on her last flight as an operating cabin crew for @airindiain what a lovely day and what amazing passengers! So many best wishes and hugs of course I was in the flight deck :) #proud #grateful pic.twitter.com/eUL3Og4EBr

- Ashrrita (@caramelwings) July 31, 2018

An Air India spokesperson said that it was a coincidence that Ashrrita was flying the aircraft which was her mother's farewell flight.

Ashrrita tells BBC that her mother has no immediate plans to keep still: "She plans to travel for a couple of months, after which she will decide what she wants to do," she said. "She does love to cook."