One Year After the Air India Crash, a Mumbai Family Still Waits for Answers

BBC Business reported Sunday that nearly a year after the Air India crash killed 241 of 242 people on board, one Mumbai family remains trapped between grief and unanswered questions.

A Brother Still Waiting for the Truth

Imtiyaz Ali lost his brother Javed, sister-in-law Mariam, and their two children when Air India Flight AI171 fell from the sky seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad last June. The aircraft was bound for London. Investigators are expected to release their final report in the coming weeks.

Imtiyaz told the BBC he chose not to meet at his family home. The house where Javed once visited carries a weight that ordinary routine cannot shift. “It feels like Javed is still there,” he said. His mother, Farida Bano, described the same sensation differently. She told the BBC her son follows her everywhere, day and night.

The Crash and Its Only Survivor

Flight AI171 carried 242 people. Only one survived. Nineteen additional people on the ground were killed. Investigators have spent the past year examining what caused the aircraft to lose thrust, with no confirmed finding yet on whether the cause was mechanical failure, human error, or another factor entirely.

Javed had built a life in the United Kingdom but returned regularly to Mumbai. He and his mother spoke constantly. His sudden silence after the crash, before any official word reached the family, was the first signal something was wrong.

Background: How a Family Was Told

The days after the crash were harrowing. Imtiyaz described feeding his mother the news in careful fragments. She has a heart condition and doctors urged caution. First came word of an accident. Then that Mariam was critical. The family flew her to Ahmedabad under a false pretext before finally telling her Javed had died.

In September, her health deteriorated sharply. Doctors inserted additional cardiac stents, bringing her total to five. Physicians warned that ongoing stress was worsening her heart disease, diabetes, and blood pressure.

Grief Without Closure

A year on, Javed’s favourite meals still appear at family gatherings. Conversations among siblings still pause where his voice once would have filled the room. His mother speaks of him in the present tense.

Imtiyaz said his frustration with Air India and parent company Tata Group has grown alongside the grief. He described months of seeking updates on the investigation and the return of belongings, with little resolution. The family is “trying to move forward,” he said, but the absence of a final official account keeps closure out of reach.

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