Victims' families mark Air India crash anniversary with prayers and tributes
For mourning families and local residents in Ahmedabad, the first anniversary of the crash has sharpened painful memories and grief that had yet to fade
AHMEDABAD: Families of the 260 people killed when an Air India Boeing 787 crashed in Ahmedabad a year ago prepared to gather on Friday for prayers and a candlelight tribute to mark the anniversary of the disaster.
At B.J. Medical College, close to where the plane crashed into a hostel complex for students, some of the relatives attended a commemoration earlier in the day alongside politicians, government officials and foreign dignitaries.
Damaged hostel buildings, which still bear the scars of the June 12, 2025, crash, remain closed.
The government of Gujarat state has said the damaged hostel block will be demolished and replaced with a new building, with the help of funding from the Tata Group, which owns a 75% stake in Air India.
PAINFUL MEMORIES
For mourning families and local residents in Ahmedabad, the first anniversary of the crash has sharpened painful memories and grief that had yet to fade.
Suresh Patni, whose son ran a tea stall and was killed in the disaster, said the family was still in deep mourning.
"I can't believe it has been a year," he said, adding that the family now survived with the help of compensation from Tata Trusts.
Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash, which was the world's deadliest air disaster in a decade. A preliminary report released last year showed the Boeing 787's engine fuel control switches moved almost simultaneously from 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF', starving both engines of fuel shortly after Air India
Flight AI171 took off for London.
'HOW CAN YOU BLAME HIM?'
A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots supported the view that the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane's engines, according to U.S. officials' early assessment reported by Reuters last year.
India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said at the time it was "too early to reach any definite conclusions". In an interview aired by the BBC, Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, the father of the Air India flight's captain, Sumeet Sabharwal, pushed back against suggestions that his son - who died in the crash - could be blamed.
He said his son had flown the plane for years and had an incident-free career. "How can you blame him?" he said.
Pushkar Raj Sabharwal has asked India's top court to order an independent investigation that takes into account causes other than pilot action.