Families mark year since Air India crash

Families of those killed when Air India Flight 171 crashed in Ahmedabad gathered for vigils, prayers and memorial services Friday, one year after the disaster killed 260 people and left relatives still waiting for a final explanation of what brought the aircraft down.

The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad, slamming into buildings at BJ Medical College in the city’s Meghani Nagar area. Of the 242 people on board, only one passenger survived. Nineteen people on the ground were also killed, bringing the death toll to 260. Al Jazeera reported that another 67 people near the crash site were injured.

The cause of the crash remains unresolved. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said Friday that evidence was being “analysed in a comprehensive and integrated manner” and that a final report would be published once the investigation is complete. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the inquiry was proceeding “with diligence and professionalism.”

“We remain committed to a thorough and objective determination of the causes of the accident and to further enhancing aviation safety,” he wrote on X, while offering condolences to families.

At the crash site in Ahmedabad, blackened buildings remain behind barriers, and relatives have left flower garlands, photographs and handwritten messages. Families arrived Friday carrying portraits of loved ones. Some prayed in silence. Others embraced and wept.

Among them were relatives of 12-year-old Akash Patni, who was killed near the tea stall where he had been helping his family. His mother, Sitaben, who suffered severe burns in the crash, returned to the site for the first time since the disaster and recited Hindu hymns beside a garlanded photograph of her son.

Nearby, staff, students and families gathered at BJ Medical College for a memorial event. The college also organised a blood donation drive. British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron paid respects to victims earlier in the day. The BBC reported that 53 British nationals were among those killed; Al Jazeera reported the number as 52. A memorial service is also planned in Leicester.

Other families marked the anniversary away from the crash site. In Ahmedabad, relatives of Sarlaben Thakur and her two-year-old daughter Aadhya, both killed when the plane struck the college hostel complex, held prayers at a nearby temple because their home was too small for the nearly 200 expected mourners. The family called June 12 a “black day” and said they had removed clocks from the house because seeing the time brought back memories of searching hospitals and mortuaries.

“In this way, they continue to occupy a place in our home,” Sarlaben’s daughter Uma Thakur told the BBC. The family planned to serve one of Aadhya’s favourite meals, crunchy noodles and Manchurian. “We hope this will bring us all some peace, at least for some time,” she said.

In Maharashtra, memorials were held in Mumbai and nearby areas for pilots and cabin crew. In Nhava village in Navi Mumbai, relatives of cabin crew member Maithili Patil placed her returned bag alongside personal belongings during a prayer meeting. “My daughter will never come back to me. I only want the truth about what caused this accident,” her mother, Pramila Patil, told BBC Marathi.

Investigators issued a preliminary report one month after the crash. Al Jazeera reported that the 15-page document said fuel supply to the engines was cut off moments before impact and included a brief cockpit exchange between the pilots, but did not determine whether the switches were moved by a pilot or because of a malfunction. The report made no safety recommendations to Boeing or engine maker GE Aerospace.

The sole survivor, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, said he continues to “live with the significant psychological scars” after losing his brother in the crash. “More than anything, people need honesty, transparency and answers. Nothing will ever change what happened, but families deserve clarity,” he said.