'My daughter died in crash - 37 years earlier another relative died on flight'
Last week, tragedy struck when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, resulting in at least 270 fatalities.
Among those who perished was 26-year-old Sanjana Palkhiwala, who tragically lost her life en route to a reunion with university mates in the UK. Saurin Palkhiwala, Sanjana's father and a businessman, knows the agony of air disaster all too well, having a family link to the Indian Airlines Flight 113 catastrophe in 1988, which claimed 133 lives.
"When I got the news of the AI 171 plane crash, shock numbed me, as I had witnessed a crash site before. Instinctively, I knew I had lost my daughter and prayed for her. I rushed home from the office, picked up my wife Sonali, and left for Civil Hospital," Palkhiwala shared with The Times of India.
He also confided that accepting his daughter's passing as divine will has been the only solace for him and his wife during such an ordeal.
"Sanjana was born to us 14 years after marriage. My wife is an ardent devotee of Goddess Gayatri, and when Sanjana was born, we were grateful for the divine gift."
Meanwhile, ex-AAIB crash investigator Captain Kishore Chinta conveyed to the BBC that one of the black boxes might be sent to the United States 'to compare the data downloaded in India with that provided to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)."
The first fatal incident involving a Boeing Dreamliner has tragically unfolded with the crash of Air India Flight 171. The cause of the disaster is still a mystery, following Boeing 's troubles that began in March 2019, when the 737 MAX was grounded due to safety concerns.
Flight AI 171's crew sent out a distress signal after losing power and thrust shortly after takeoff, indicating a severe power outage. The plane was in the air for just about 30 seconds, covering less than a mile before it catastrophically fell from the sky, leading to multiple explosions and an immense inferno.
The devastating crash claimed the lives of 241 passengers and crew on board, along with at least 39 individuals on the ground within the hostel buildings. Ramesh Viswashkumar, aged 40 and the only passenger to survive, recounted the harrowing experience to Indian reporters.
'Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise, and then the plane crashed,' he recounted. 'It all happened so quickly.
'When I got up,' he continued, 'there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me.'
Viswashkumar, who was sitting in seat 11A, miraculously lived through the ordeal, unlike his brother Ajay, who was also on board but seated in a different row and perished in the crash.
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Grieving mother of Air India crash victim is dealt agonising blow after being sent the WRONG body
A grieving mother whose son died in the Air India plane disaster travelled thousands of miles to collect his remains - only to be sent home with the wrong body. Amanda Donaghey lost her son Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, and his husband, Jamie, 45, when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick crashed just seconds after takeoff on June 12 - claiming the lives of 260 people. The couple had been returning to Britain after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India when the plane unexpectedly crashed, killing all but one passenger onboard. The aircraft had turned into a huge fireball on impact but Ms Donaghey, 66, was determined to bring back her son's remains, handing over a sample of her blood in a bid to find matching DNA, The Sunday Times reports. Things did not look promising, however, and three days came and went without a word from officials handling the bodies. In the meantime, Jamie's remains were identified and sent home to the UK. But just as the mother was losing hope, they got back to her with news that there had been a 'match' for Fiongal. Ms Donaghey was relieved - the discovery meant she could bring her son's remains back and lay them next to his husband's. The family set about organising funerals for the two men with the mother assured on her return to the UK that Fiongal's remains were in the casket. Then, a heartbreaking development. The British coroner had conducted another DNA test which found that the remains in her son's coffin were not his after all. Ms Donaghey said that the identity of the remains is still unknown, describing the confusion as 'appalling'. Fiongal studied at the Royal College of Art and went on to work as a fashion designer, fronting design houses in London and Asia. He then got into sprituality, yoga and reiki and established the Wellness Foundry, dedicated to such topics, in 2018. The business founder married Jamie in 2022 and had taken to social media to describe their 'magical experience' in India the night before they caught the fateful flight. They even posted a short clip from the airport departure lounge just hours ahead of the journey back, which would see them sit in seats 22A and 22B, bidding farewell to the country. His mother was not aware he was on the plane, believing Fiongal to have flown back to the UK two days prior. After taking a ride on her horse, she got a phone call from Fiongal's father who told her the pair had been travelling back on the aircraft. Two days later, Ms Donaghey took a tricky trip to India from her home in the south of France, where she had moved 22 years ago. She was greeted by a British High Commission crisis management team on her arrival in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Despite being exhausted, the mother headed straight to the nearby Civil Hospital to take a DNA test in a converted classroom. Ms Donaghey then paid a visit BJ Medical College hostel, which had been hit by the Air India plane, but was not allowed to go through the final cordon as the aircraft's tail was still lodged in a building there. 'It was like a bomb site,' she said. 'You would think it was from a war scene, but there were still these small birds twittering.' Also out there was Miten Patel who was determined to bring home his parents Ashok and Shobhana, who had been married since the 70s. The financial advisor and retired microbiologist had been in the country for a yatra, a religious visit geared towards helping people to find peace when they die. Ashok and Shobhana, pictured, had been married since the 70s and were in the country for a yatra, a religious visit geared towards helping people to find peace when they die Mr Patel was handed several of his parents' items including Ashok's shirt and Shobhana's swan necklace. After successfully retrieving the couple's remains, he later discovered 'other remains' in the casket said to contain his mother's body. He was finally able to bury her last week, describing the successful end to the process as a 'miracle'. Ms Donaghey has been going through a similar ordeal, but one that remains unresolved. After initially being informed of the 'match' on June 20, she spoke with the British High Commission and hospital representatives, as well as an Avon and Somerset Police officer, acting as a disaster victim investigator. She said: 'I was told they had found part of Fiongal but not all of him. I said I wanted to stay until they had finished looking.' But on her return to the crash site, Ms Donaghey was handed the devastating news that there was nothing left to be found in the wreckage. Things took an even more concerning turn when she was told about Shobhana's case, which had seen various remains get mixed up. On June 28, she headed back to Gatwick on an Air India flight in a bid to get Fiongal's remains to a British hospital with better preserving standards than those in India. They were handed over to Dr Fiona Wilcox, senior coroner for Inner West London, and in the meantime Ms Donaghey was given support by her sister in Cambridgeshire, as well as police family liaison officers. Six days after her return, the mother was handed the heart-wrenching news that the remains in her son's coffin were not his at all. At a meeting attended by Fiongal's father, sister and brother, family liaison officers said: 'We don't have Fiongal. We have carried out the DNA tests and we do not have Fiongal.' Amanda said: 'I had my doubts but to be told that was heartbreaking.' Despite realising that their ambition to bury Fiongal and Jamie alongside one another was now impossible, Ms Donaghey and her family have not given up on trying to locate his remains, ringing the Foreign Office each day looking for answers. Some 53 of the 242 people on the ill-fated flight were British but, as many were of Indian heritage and thus buried in the country of the crash, just 12 sets of remains were delivered back to the UK. The remaining 10 were all matches, but it is still not known for sure whether the identities of the bodies that stayed in India are correct. James Healy-Pratt, an international aviation lawyer and partner with Keystone Law, is representing 20 bereaved families and confirmed they were in contact with Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister's office and Foreign Secretary David Lammy. A government spokesperson said: 'We understand that this is an extremely distressing time for the families, and our thoughts remain with them. Formal identification of bodies is a matter for the Indian authorities. 'We continue to liaise with the government of Gujarat and the government of India on behalf of the Inner West London senior coroner to support the coronial process.'
Powys County Times
8 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Mother of Air India crash victim ‘heartbroken' after remains wrongly identified
The mother of a British Air India crash victim has said her family is 'heartbroken' after receiving news the remains of her son were wrongly identified, The Sunday Times reported. The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on June 12, killing 241 people on board. Some 169 Indian passengers and 52 British nationals were killed, making it one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British fatalities. Among the British victims were Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, and his husband Jamie, 45, who had been returning to Britain after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India. Mr Greenlaw-Meek's mother, Amanda Donaghey, told The Sunday Times she flew to India after the crash in order to find her son's remains, providing a DNA sample at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital to assist the identification process. Following a match on June 20 last year, she returned to the UK with Mr Greenlaw-Meek's coffin. But on July 5, as Mr Greenlaw-Meek and his husband's families prepared to bury the married couple together, police told Ms Donaghey that DNA tests carried out in the UK showed Mr Greenlaw-Meek's remains were not in the coffin. 'We don't know what poor person is in that casket,' she told The Sunday Times. 'I had my doubts but to be told that was heartbreaking. 'This is an appalling thing to have happened,' she added. 'And we would now like the British Gvernment to do everything in its power to find out, and bring Fiongal home.' It was revealed last week the coffin of another repatriated British victim, 71-year-old Shobhana Patel, contained remains of multiple people, The Sunday Times reported. Mrs Patel was killed alongside her husband Ashok, 74, as they returned to the UK from a Hindu religious trip. Their son Miten Patel told The Sunday Times: 'There may have been a mistake done. 'But for religious reasons we need to make sure my mother is my mother and not somebody else's remains. 'Knowing 100% that it is my mum is very important to us.' Shobhana and Ashok Patel were laid to rest last week, The Sunday Times said. International aviation lawyer James Healey-Pratt, whose firm Keystone Law is representing families of victims of the Air India crash, has told Times Radio the identification issues have raised concerns over the total number of victims whose identities may have been misattributed. 'We know that 12 caskets were repatriated from India to the UK,' he said. 'Of those 12, two had been mishandled, misidentified. 'And so if you extrapolate that sample, you're looking at 40 mishandled remains out of 240. 'So that's a very large number, but we simply don't know. 'And to date, the Indian authorities have not been transparent or helpful about that, which is why there was pressure put on by the families to the FCO and the Prime Minister's office. 'And this was actually mentioned in the meeting at Chequers between Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Modi on Thursday. 'So the families are waiting to hear, first thing next week, about what actions are really being done in India to provide some degree of assurance.' It is understood no blame is being put on any UK agency for the blunders, Mr Healy-Pratt previously told the PA news agency. The only surviving passenger on the plane was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who previously told The Sun it was a 'miracle' he was alive but felt 'terrible' he could not save his brother Ajay. A preliminary report into the incident from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau found both of the plane's fuel switches moved to the 'cut-off' position 'immediately' after take-off, stopping fuel supply to the engine.
Scottish Sun
12 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Air India crash victim's mum horrified as authorities send wrong body back to the UK in a casket
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MUM whose son died in the Air India plane crash has been left horrified after authorities sent the wrong body back to the UK. Amanda Donaghey, 66, was left heartbroken and appalled after DNA evidence proved Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek's casket actually belonged to another victim. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 DNA evidence proved Air India crash passenger Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek's casket actually belonged to another victim Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 Fiongal and husband Jamie filmed themselves waiting to board the doomed plane Credit: Instagram 6 All but one passenger died when the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft crashed in Ahmedabad, India Credit: Reuters Fiongal, 39, had been to India celebrating his wedding anniversary with husband, Jamie, 45. The pair were all set to fly home to Britain on the doomed Flight AI171 when disaster struck just a minute into the journey. Moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport, the pilots lost altitude as the plane came crashing towards the ground. Footage captured the moment it smashed into a medical college hostel. A total of 241 passengers and crew plus 19 people on the ground were all killed in the tragedy - including 52 Brits like Fiongal and Jamie. Amanda initially believed the two men had caught a flight home two days earlier until she received an emotional phone call from the dad of Fiongal. A brave Amanda then flew out to India shortly after being told both men were on the plane when it crashed. She went to look for her son or, in the worse case scenario, bring his remains home. She told The Sunday Times: "Visiting the site and seeing it was something I felt like I had to do. I wanted to understand what had happened. "I remember all these burnt trees. The trees were scorched black. But there were still birds and squirrels in those trees, which I found quite profound. How pilots cutting engines sparked TWO plane disasters after South Korea & India crashes as calls for cockpit CCTV grow "It was like a bomb site. You would think it was from a war scene, but there were still these small birds twittering." Hours after the crash, it was confirmed that only one person had survived the accident. Despite the tragedy, Amanda remained determined to help find Fiongal's remains. She gave blood to help find a DNA match before being informed officials had found the body and sent it back to the UK. Jamie had already been identified by this point with both men's families hoping to lay them to rest next to each other. Amanda rushed back to the UK hoping to say her final goodbyes after being assured that Fiongal was in the casket. The family had started to plan Fiongal's funeral when they received a gut-wrenching phone call from the police. A British coroner had completed a second, more thorough DNA test on the remains which were inside the casket. Fiongal's tragic final video A HEARTBREAKING final video posted by Fiongal came just hours before their tragic death in the Air India crash. In the chilling final clip filmed at Ahmedabad airport, Fiongal and Jamie, dressed in floral shirts and visibly happy, reflect on their trip. Fiongal says: "We are at the airport just boarding. Goodbye India. Ten-hour flight back to England. What was your biggest takeaway Jamie?" Jamie responds: "I don't know," prompting Fiongal's laughter and a teasing, "Thanks for your contribution." Fiongal jokes that his main lesson was "don't lose your patience with your partner," to which Jamie smiles and replies, "You snapped at me at the airport for having chai." Passengers mill in the background as Fiongal adds: "I'm going back to Britain happily, happily calm." Earlier social media posts from the couple showed their experiences in Ahmedabad, including a seven-hour car journey to a stunning hotel. In one clip, Fiongal lies on a large bed beside a giant swing, describing the hotel as "beautiful" and saying he felt "very, very happy." Their time in India was captured in a series of posts showing henna tattoos, shopping for fabrics and gifts, and riding in a tuk-tuk through busy streets. On their final night, Fiongal reflected: "So, it's our last night in India and we've had a magical experience. Some mind-blowing things have happened. "We are going to put all this together and create a vlog. It's my first ever vlog about the whole trip and we want to share it." Jamie added: "We have been on quite a journey and then spending our last night here in this beautiful hotel, it's really been a great way to round off the trip." They did not belong to Fiongal. "It was heartbreaking," Amanda said. "We don't know what poor person is in that casket. This is an appalling thing to have happened." Amanda's experience is tragically just one of many parents struggling to find closure after the crash due to a mix up of many caskets. NHS microbiologist Shobhana Patel, 71, and her husband Ashok, 74, both died in the crash. The couple, from Orpington, Kent, were repatriated in different coffins but DNA tests in Britain found other body parts along with Shobhana's. One heartbroken family was even forced to cancel funeral plans due to the mix-up of bodies, the Mail Online reported. And in another harrowing mistake, "commingled" human remains - consisting of body parts of more than one victim - were reportedly packed into a casket before being shipped to the UK. It is thought that only Indian authorities carried out DNA tests on victims with no input from any international agency. India's Ministry of External Affairs said: 'All remains were handled with professionalism.' Brit families previously slammed the chaotic ground operation following the horror smash on June 12. One relative reportedly blasted the "lack of transparency and oversight in the identification and handling of remains". 6 Brit families previously slammed the chaotic ground operation following the horror smash on June 12 Credit: AFP 6 Vishwash Ramesh was the sole survivor of the Air India crash Credit: Dan Charity
