'Feels Like He'll Walk Through The Door': Year After AI-171 Crash, Kin Battle Grief, Seek Closure
'Feels Like He'll Walk Through The Door': Year After AI-171 Crash, Kin Battle Grief, Seek Closure Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: June 12, 2026
'Feels Like He'll Walk Through The Door': Year After AI-171 Crash, Kin Battle Grief, Seek Closure Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: June 12, 2026, 08:27 IST One year after the crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is yet to release its final report, leaving families with many unanswered questions Rapid Read Parents of Akash Patni who died in the Air India tragedy. The 14-year-old was resting 300 metres from the crash site when he was struck by metal debris from the plane’s wing and subsequently engulfed in a fire. (News18) For David Christian, a 72-year-old retired government official from Chandkheda in Ahmedabad, air travel will never be the same again. A few weeks ago, when he and his elder son travelled to Australia, David made sure they boarded separate flights. The precaution stemmed from a fear he never imagined he would live with—the fear of losing his entire family in an aviation disaster. David lost his younger son, Rozar Christian, in the Air India AI-171 crash on June 12 last year. Rozar, 37, and his wife Rachna, 36, both worked at a care home in London and were travelling back to the UK when the Boeing 787 crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad. David had accompanied the couple to the airport that day. “I spoke to Rozar at 1.15pm. He told me they had settled into their seats and that the flight was about to take off," David recalled as he sorted through some of his son’s belongings that friends had later sent from London. ALSO READ | Air India Crash: A Year On, What Investigators Have Found So Far And Why Compensation Is Under Scrutiny “Just 24 minutes later, I had barely reached home when I heard that a plane had crashed. We rushed back towards the airport and soon learnt that the aircraft had barely taken off when the incident occurred. At the hospital, we realised we had lost both our son and daughter-in-law." For David’s wife, Sarla, the grief remains as raw as it was a year ago. The family has removed all photographs of Rozar from the walls of their home because they found themselves talking to his pictures every day.
“My son surprised us by coming home from London on June 7 last year," said the 68-year-old, struggling to hold back tears. “Even now, it feels as though he will suddenly walk through the door and surprise us again. For months, we spoke to his photographs every day. Eventually, we took them down and locked them away in a cupboard in his room." Lives Lost On The Ground The tragedy was not confined to those onboard the aircraft. At least 16 people on the ground were killed when the aircraft slammed into a medical college hostel building, claiming the lives of aspiring doctors and local residents. Among them was 14-year-old Akash Patni. Just minutes before the crash, Akash had delivered lunch to his mother, Sita Ben, who ran a tea stall near the hostel gate. Tired from the afternoon heat, he had fallen asleep on a bench about 300 metres from the crash site. The disaster unfolded before his mother’s eyes. “Suddenly, there was a deafening sound and then fire spread across a huge area, burning everything in its path," said Sita Ben, 43. “My first instinct was to look for my son. When I couldn’t find him, I ran around asking for help, but by then it was too late." Sita herself suffered 30 per cent burn injuries while desperately searching for Akash in the inferno. She is still recovering from those injuries. Her husband, Suresh Patni, an autorickshaw driver, was ferrying a passenger nearby when he heard the explosion. “When I reached the spot, people told me to go to the hospital," he said. “At the hospital, they directed me to the post-mortem room. The moment they said that, my heart sank. I knew I had already lost my child." Akash was the youngest of the couple’s five children. Families Still Searching For Answers On Thursday evening, several families of crash victims gathered at the crash site to pay tribute to their loved ones. Yet beyond the grief, a common sentiment united them—a desire for closure. ALSO READ | One Year After Deadly Air India Crash, Final Report Delayed as Engine Analysis Remains Incomplete One man, who lost his younger brother and sister-in-law in the crash, said the families still want to know who was responsible.
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