A mum whose son died in last year’s Air India catastrophe is preparing to travel back to the country where the crash happened, as she continues to seek clarity over what went wrong.
Air India Flight AI171 was heading for London Gatwick when it came down around 30 seconds after departing Ahmedabad airport in India in June 2025.
In total, 241 people onboard were killed. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the only survivor, while a further 19 people died on the ground.
Early findings from investigators indicated the plane suffered a loss of power after both fuel cutoff switches were moved from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’ shortly before the crash.
Authorities are still examining the incident, and a final report is expected at a later date.
Amanda Donaghey, who lost her 39-year-old son Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek in the disaster, is set to return to India after being sent back to the UK with the wrong remains.
Nearly a year after the tragedy, Fiongal’s remains have still not been located.
Fiongal had been travelling on the Air India flight with his husband Jamie, after the couple marked their third wedding anniversary during a trip in Asia.
Amanda has said that when she first learned a plane had crashed, she did not immediately fear for her son, believing he had already returned home a few days earlier.
But she told ITV’s This Morning that her life changed instantly after she received a phone call saying he had been on the flight.
She said on the daytime programme: “I was out in the morning and heard there had been a crash, and wasn’t overly concerned for me because I thought they’d come home a couple of days earlier. I got in, and then the phone rang.
“I went straight into screaming, actually. Just screamed and screamed. When that scream stopped, I just had to go there. I felt a very strong need to go and bring him home.
“I got a plane and went straight to the hospital, two days getting there, and gave a blood sample to help with the matching. I was very well supported by the High Commission and the Red Cross.”
Amanda was later informed there had been a positive identification, and she returned to the UK believing she was bringing her son home.
However, despite the casket bearing Fiongal’s name, she said she was contacted by a local coroner who confirmed the remains inside were not his.
Amanda recalled: “There was no Fiongal in the casket. It was some poor other person.”
“I feel very personally uncomfortable with the fact that I went there to get him and I failed. Finding out that it wasn’t him was breaking.”