Colleagues pay tribute to 'warm, smiling' doctor and family who perished on doomed Air India plane

Daily Mail​

13-06-2025

Tributes were paid today to a 'warm, smiling and kind' NHS doctor, his wife and three young children, who were wiped out in the horrific Air India plane crash.
Dr Prateek Joshi, 43, had worked as a radiologist at a hospital in Derby for four years.
He was flying back to the UK with his wife Komi Vyas – a fellow doctor - their daughter Miraya, eight, and twin sons, Pradyut and Nakul, five, who planned to settle down in the East Midlands city.
The family posted a selfie of them innocently smiling after boarding the Boeing 787 plane before it took off from Ahmedabad yesterday.
Royal Derby Hospital described Dr Joshi as 'not only an excellent doctor for whom nothing was too much trouble, but also a warm, smiling and kind man who was a hugely liked and valued member of the team'.
His wife of around 10 years and children had spent time with him in Derby on a regularly basis and were on the flight to Britain planning to settle down and start a new life, friends said.
One of Dr Joshi's former senior colleagues at the Royal Derby, Dr Rajeev Singh, said: 'It is hard to accept that a man with such a passion for life, and his beautiful young family, have been taken in this way.
'His passing has left a profound void, not only in his professional contributions but in the warmth and spirit that he gave to the world every day.'
Dr Vivekanand Sharma, minister at Derby's Geeta Bhawan Hindu temple, where Dr Joshi worshipped regularly, said: 'He was a good man, a lovely person with a smiling face, always looking to help others in any way he could.
'I first met him more than two years ago when he first came to the temple, although I had not met his wife and family before.
'Their twin sons are aged two or three and his daughter five or six. Our thoughts are with the family of Dr Joshi, everyone who was travelling on the aeroplane and those at the hospital which it crashed onto.
'We have deep sorrow for all of them.'
Another of Dr Joshi's former colleagues, Deepak Pundaleekappa Kaladagi, a professor of orthopaedics at a hospital in Bangalore, posted a picture of the family on Facebook.
In a heartfelt tribute, he said: 'Rest in peace Dr Prateek Joshi and family who breathed their last in the tragic horrific plane crash in Ahmedabad which killed 242 people on board.
'Dr Prateek was my MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine) classmate and a dear friend in JNMC (Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum, India).
'He was a Radiologist, his wife also a doctor, who had recently resigned from job in India and was planning to settle in UK, but fate had other plans. May their souls rest in peace and God give strength to their family to bear this loss.'
Dr Singh, Consultant Radiologist and Clinical Director for Imaging at University Hospitals Derby and Burton NHS Trust, said: 'Prateek was full of joy, he was a wonderful man, friend, husband and father, and an exceptional Radiologist who was highly respected in his field.
'He approached everything with a smile, radiated positivity and had a great sense of humour.
'He moved to Derby, from India, in 2021, quickly becoming a beloved colleague. He often entertained colleagues with stories about his passions outside of work, including his newly discovered love of fish and chips and enthusiasm for walking in the Peak District.
'He touched the lives of so many people, both through his clinical work and as a colleague and friend to many.'
Before the flight departed, the family shared a selfie onboard the doomed flight, all of them smiling ahead of the next chapter in their lives.
Neil Ryan lived next door to the doctor for a number of years, in a suburb close to the Royal Derby Hospital.
He said: 'It's absolutely devastating, you just don't expect it to be so close to home.
'The fact that they were on their way back to Derby to set up their own life, the photo they took just before they took off, they were so happy and content, for it to end this way is just heartbreaking.
'We moved in 2019 and they moved in a few years later. A wonderful, beautiful family, absolutely brilliant. The kindest, really unassuming. When they lived here, they'd just had their twin boys who were babies at the time, absolutely tiny they were.
'We could hear them crying through the walls, but it was really quiet and cute. Just the nicest family. When they left, they came round and said goodbye, they gave us a big parcel of goodies and stuff.
'He was a doctor in the hospital just down the road. You couldn't ask for better neighbours.'
Another resident, Paul Stewart, added: 'I would walk past and see Dr Joshi every now and then. We didn't know each other very well but I recognised his face in the news this morning.
'It's a tragedy that has brought so much sadness to Derby, across the UK and across the world.
'To think that those young children were on that flight with their parents is just something I can't fathom. I just hope their family are supported during this horrific time.'
Stephen Posey, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton chief executive, said: 'We are profoundly and deeply saddened at the loss of our dedicated and talented colleague, Dr Prateek Joshi and his family.
'Prateek was not only an excellent doctor for whom nothing was too much trouble, but also a warm, smiling and kind man who was a hugely liked and valued member of the team.
'We are privileged that Prateek chose to give his skills, talent and knowledge to the NHS, and he will be sorely missed by everyone who had the pleasure of working with him.'