How a mother’s final wish left her daughters orphaned in Air India crash
Ahmedabad: A tragic aviation disaster in India has claimed the life of Arjun Patolia, a British father of two young daughters, just days after he honoured his wife’s final wish.
Arjun Patolia was returning to London from Gujarat after immersing the ashes of his late wife, Bharatiben, when Air India Flight 171 crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport.
Bharatiben Patolia had died just a week earlier in London. Her last request was that her ashes be taken back to her ancestral home in Gujarat and immersed in a local river. Arjun travelled to the Amreli district, where he performed the ceremonial rites with his relatives. He was scheduled to return to his daughters, aged four and eight, in London on Thursday.
However, Arjun never made it back. He was among the 241 victims killed when the Gatwick-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner came down just minutes after departing from Ahmedabad at around 1.40pm local time (8.10am BST). The aircraft crashed into the densely populated Meghani neighbourhood, triggering a massive explosion and fire.
CCTV footage captured the final moments of the flight. The aircraft is seen climbing with a high nose angle and its landing gear still deployed, before it suddenly loses control and descends rapidly behind buildings. A fireball then erupts, followed by a thick column of black smoke. The impact destroyed several buildings in the residential area.
Air India has confirmed that 229 passengers and 12 crew members died in the crash. Only one person survived—40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national seated in 11A. Speaking from his hospital bed, Ramesh recalled: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I stood up and ran. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance.”
Aviation experts have proposed multiple theories about the cause of the crash. Captain Saurabh Bhatnagar, a former senior pilot, suggested a possible dual bird strike might have led to engine failure. “Just short of taking the gear up, the aircraft started descending. This can happen only if the engines lose power or the aircraft stops generating lift,” he told NDTV.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft only reached 625 feet before it began descending. Its transponder signal disappeared within seconds of take-off. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation confirmed that the aircraft sent a mayday call moments before crashing.
Among the victims were other British families as well. Dr Komi Vyas, a doctor from Udaipur, was relocating to the UK with her husband, Dr Prateek Joshi, and their three children—twin boys aged five, and an eight-year-old daughter. The family had taken a final selfie onboard the aircraft, smiling and seated together, just moments before disaster struck. They were moving to London to begin a new chapter of life together.
The aircraft, registered as a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was 11 years old and under the command of Captain Summeet Sabharwal, who had logged over 8,200 hours of flying experience. Experts have noted that the Dreamliner is considered a modern and reliable aircraft, making the crash particularly shocking. Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, issued a statement expressing “profound sorrow” and extended condolences to the families of the victims.
“It is very disappointing that it is a Dreamliner, as it is a state-of-the-art Boeing,” Chandrasekaran said. “We cannot rule out security issues, but this is all speculation on my part. At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.”
The tragedy has not only devastated dozens of families across India and the UK but has also left two young girls in London without either parent. Arjun Patolia’s journey to honour his wife’s memory has now ended in an unspeakable loss, and the fate of their children hangs in the balance.