One year after Air India flight AI171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, the families left behind are still waiting for a full answer. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner hit a medical college on 12 June last year, killing 241 people on board and 19 people on the ground.
The anniversary has reopened the same wound for relatives who say they still do not know why the Gatwick-bound flight went down. A further 67 people were seriously injured, and the absence of final conclusions from investigators has left the crash in a painful holding pattern for those trying to understand what happened.
That scale of loss is part of why the case still hangs over both India and Britain. The dead included 169 Indian nationals and 52 Britons, turning the crash into a cross-border tragedy with hundreds of relatives still looking for clarity, support and a date when the official picture will finally be complete. Families have also followed reporting on the investigation closely, including a separate update on Air India Crash: Pilots' body urges no interim report as deadline nears, as they wait to see whether the next developments will move the case forward.
For Mike Andrews, who represents about 135 affected families, the delay is not abstract. He said relatives have faced roadblocks from Air India while trying to get information about the crash, and that many families feel they are still being victimised even a year later. Their frustration is sharpened by the fact that investigators have not yet published their final conclusions, leaving official answers out of reach while grief remains raw.
For Shweta Parihar, the search for closure is tied to daily life with her 11-year-old son, whose father, Abhinav Parihar, died on the flight while travelling back to Britain. She said authorities were still identifying victims through DNA testing after the crash, and that she had to lie to her son while she tried to shield him from the full truth. He kept asking to talk to his dad, she said, and now cries over small things because everything feels different.
Parihar said the family had moved to Britain only a few years before the crash and that she is on a health work visa, which has made the practical aftermath harder to manage. She is seeking stable work, help with a work permit or sponsorship, and support for her son’s schooling, childcare and activities. Her account shows how the crash did not end with the wreckage in Ahmedabad; for many families, the hardest part has been living through the year that followed without final answers or a clear path forward.
The unanswered question is no longer whether the crash was catastrophic. It was. The question is when the official findings will arrive, and whether they will be enough to give families something they have not had since 12 June last year: a conclusion they can finally begin to live with.
