Families in the UK continue to struggle with the trauma of losing loved ones in one of the world’s biggest airline disasters, as prayers and tributes on Friday marked the sombre first anniversary of the Air India Flight 171 crash.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner had 242 people, including 12 crew members, on board when it plummeted into the student hostel and canteen building of a medical college shortly after taking off in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025.
The incident claimed 260 lives. Of those, 241 were passengers and crew on board the aircraft and 19 were on the ground.
Mohammad Shethwala, 28, who lost his wife Sadikabanu, 24, and their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Fatima is among those struggling both emotionally and financially.
Based in London as a dependent on his wife's visa, Shethwala applied for an extension on humanitarian grounds, but his struggle was compounded when the UK Home Office rejected the application.
“Not only have I lost everything, but now I am not even being allowed the time to try and cope with this mental trauma. I am not asking for settlement rights in the UK. All I ask is a couple of years to be able to move on in the country where I feel closest to the memory of my wife and child,” said Shethwala.
He is pursuing a judicial review process but remains unsure about what the future holds for him.
Some families are being supported through the legal process, while an interim report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) - which was supposed to be released in a year - is awaited.
Keystone Law in London, representing 25 British families bereaved in the crash, said the families expected and deserved to know why their loved ones died and that the AAIB had a “duty to be candid and honest about the causes”.
No money will ever bring back these loved ones, but it is a measure of the losses needlessly suffered by these families,” said James Healy-Pratt, Aviation Partner at Keystone.
“We are currently in ongoing, productive, and confidential negotiations with Air India and their aviation insurers, led by AIG, exploring full and fair settlements under our High Court rules here in London.
Air India said it has provided an interim payment of Rs 25 lakh ($26,240; £19,580) each to the families of the deceased to help address immediate financial needs and is engaging with families for the process of final compensation.
“Air India remains committed to supporting every individual impacted by the AI171 tragedy with care and compassion," a spokesperson with the airline said.
Leicester, which has a large Gujarati community, is home to several families affected by the June 2025 crash.
“All the families who are affected by this [disaster] are suffering trauma. Each and every one of them is going through that journey,” said Sanjiv Patel, a Leicester-based community leader.
He recalled how a local temple became a common place for many of them to gather, irrespective of faith, and participate in prayers after the incident.
“Families have been striving for closure, striving for a way to move forward, for clarity, for answers and transparency,” Patel said.
“They are handling it in different ways. Many are having private prayer services at home. They don't want a public show. Many are still struggling to cope, not just from the mental trauma, but the financial trauma that it has caused, coping with day-to-day life, and I don't think that we can put a timeline to this,” he added.
