In a small home in Ahmedabad's Meghani Nagar neighborhood, western India, Sita Patni remains inconsolable a year later. Her body bears burn scars from the flames she rushed into to save her youngest son, Aakash, 14. Every time she hears an aircraft take off or land from the nearby airport, she lowers her face to hide her tears.
On June 12, 2025, Patni was selling tea outside the gate of a medical college dormitory. Her son Aakash would usually bring her lunch and then go home, but on that day he insisted on staying overnight at the shop. That was the last time Patni saw him. At 13:39, a huge blast hurled her away from the shop. Flames engulfed the tea stall where Aakash was sleeping. Air India Flight 171 from London had plowed into the dormitory shortly after takeoff, with a burning wing crashing onto the shop. Aakash died. In total, 259 people perished: 241 passengers and 18 people on the ground.
150 kilometers away, Salim Patel remains furious. A day before the tragedy, his family celebrated when his son Sahil, 25, won a work visa lottery to the UK. That fateful flight claimed Sahil's life. “I never imagined that the visa bringing us utmost joy was actually a death sentence,” Patel said. He calls for the death penalty for those responsible for the accident, branding them “traitors to the country.”
A preliminary report from India's aviation authority blamed the pilots for the crash, but the final investigation is still incomplete. Patel believes the pilots are innocent and the plane was defective. He said representatives from Air India and Tata, the conglomerate that owns the airline, came to his home offering compensation but demanded proof of Sahil's salary, then later asked for a photo of their son working. More than 120 victim families have hired lawyers in the U.S. to seek compensation.
In London, Muhammad Shethwala, 28, is not only grieving the loss of his wife and daughter in the crash but also facing a deportation order. His wife, Sadika Tapeliwala, and their daughter Fatima had flown to India for a wedding and died on the return flight. Shethwala, who lived in the UK on a dependent visa tied to his wife's status, received a deportation notice in January 2026 after Sadika's death. He has spent nearly $15,000 on legal fees to appeal the order, but Air India has offered no support. “I don't want to live in London forever. I came here for my wife; she is no more,” Shethwala said, hoping the British government will grant him a short-term work visa or remove the overstay charge from his immigration record.
