Hidden heartbreaks of Air India crash from mum's dying wish to pilot's brave act
In one of the deadliest aviation disasters in decades, 241 people on board the doomed Air India flight have lost their lives, with only one survivor escaping the Boeing jet.
Mere minutes after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in western India, pilots sent a desperate Mayday signal to those on the ground, signalling that something was terribly wrong.
This would be the last communication before the Air India Flight 171 hurtled into a college building in a residential area of Ahmedabad, while medical students had been eating their lunch.
Over the weekend, search teams faced the harrowing task of recovering remains from the crash site, with a total of 270 bodies accounted for. Among those believed dead are 241 passengers and crew on board, including at least 50 British nationals. The remainder of the bodies are believed to have belonged to those who'd been inside the doctors' hostel or on the ground nearby.
The condition of the bodies is such that families must now endure the agonising wait for their loved ones to be identified, delaying their final goodbyes.
Incredibly, British passenger Vishwash Ramesh managed to survive the crash, walking away from the scene with just a few minor injuries. His survival is sadly just one ray of hope amid a tidal wave of grief.
Investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing, with those who've lost friends and relatives left with many painful questions amid their grief.
It's still unclear exactly what happened in the air. However, devastating stories of those who stepped aboard that day have started to come to light, from a recently widowed father of two who never made it home to his children, to a "very kind" son who'd devoted himself to his father in his final months.
Mother's dying wish
Arjun Patoliya would no doubt have been dealing with a mix of poignant emotions as he boarded what was to be his final flight.
The recently widowed father of two was returning home to London after scattering the ashes of his late wife, Bharti Patoliya, who had sadly passed away from cancer mere days before.
In accordance with Bharti's final wishes, Arjun scattered her ashes in the sacred Narmada River in her homeland of Gujarat. For those who follow the Hindu faith, it's believed that being laid to rest at this holy site will purify the deceased's soul.
Accompanied by loved ones, Arjun, carried out several funeral rites in his ancestral village, located some 150 miles from the city of Ahmedabad. He never made it home to his children.
Now, in the space of just 18 days, Arjun and Bharti's young daughters, aged eight and four years old, have lost both their parents.
According to a GoFundMe page, which has raised almost £580,000 for the little girls' futures, "Arjun left to bid farewell to his wife, never returned to the children they both raised. Now, these two beautiful young girls have been left without parents — their world turned upside down in just over two weeks."
Pilot's last heroic act
In his final moments, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal saved "dozens of lives" thanks to his quick thinking. The 55-year-old has been hailed a "hero" for diverting his plane into a patch of grassland, narrowly avoiding a direct hit on the doctors' hostel.
This decision, made with just seconds to spare, will have saved many lives. Geeta Patni, 48, who lived close to the crash site, said: "The building was shaking. We were so scared. There was chaos in the street and fire and smoke. Any closer and we would have died. The pilot saved us. We have always worried this might happen because the planes go over so low."
Another local, Jahanvi Rajput, 28, added: "Thanks to the pilot Captain Sabharwal, we survived. He's a hero. It is because of him we are alive. The green space next to us was visible to him and that's where he went."
Sisters' birthday trip
Sisters Dhir and Heer Baxi, who were both in their 20s, had flown out to Ahmedabad from London to surprise their maternal grandmother on her birthday. They'd been returning from the family celebrations when the plane went down.
The siblings are remembered as "young talents" by devastated loved ones. Dhir had been studying to become a fashion designer, while Heer worked as a project director for an investment and renewable energy company. She previously worked in Singapore, where it's understood the two young women grew up.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Dhir and Heer's older brother Ishan shared: "I can't express what my complete family is going through – shell shocked, not coming to terms is what I can say right now
"Both had a natural aura of helping and always cared about family values. They both had aspirations to be successful enough to roam around the world, tension-free. Along with their parents, they both had a proclivity towards modernisation without changing traditional values.
"Both my sisters know what is right and what is wrong, thus whatever work they carried out, in academics or fashion, they always got success with no conflicts amongst peers or seniors."
Devoted son
Manish Babu, remembered as a "very kind man", had spent the previous few months caring for his ailing father in India. After his father passed away, Manish set off home to Leicester, where he'd lived for 25 years.
Shortly after boarding the doomed flight, Manish died alongside dozens of other passengers, in what has proven to be a "big shock" for dismayed relatives.
Speaking with LeicestershireLive, Manish's cousin, Dhruven Nanji, said: "He had been in India for three months after his father passed away and was coming back. He's been here for 25 years and was well-known in the community."
Survivor's horror
The sole survivor of Air India Flight 171 has opened up about the horror he witnessed as he made his miraculous escape.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh told the Hindustan Times: "When the flight took off, within five to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air. Suddenly, the lights started flickering – green and white – then the plane rammed into some establishment that was there."
The 40-year-old London man, who'd been sitting in seat 11a next to an emergency exit, explained that the section of the plane he was in landed on the ground, rather than hitting the roof of a building. Those on the other side would have had no way out.
According to Vishwash: "When I saw the exit, I thought I could come out. I tried, and I did. Maybe the people who were on the other side of the plane weren't able to."
He continued: "I don't know how I survived. I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me … I walked out of the rubble."
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