Young sisters orphaned as father dies in Air India crash while flying home after spreading mother's ashes
Two young sisters in London have been tragically orphaned after their father was killed in the deadly Ahmedabad plane crash — just days after he traveled to India to lay their cancer-stricken mother to rest.
Arjun Patoliya, 37, was one of at least 270 killed in the horrific crash, one of India's worst aviation disasters.
Patoliya was flying back to the UK Thursday to reunite with his grieving daughters, ages 4 and 8, after fulfilling his late wife Bharatiben's dying wish: to have her ashes scattered in a local river in their native Gujarat, the Daily Mail reported.
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But disaster struck when his India Air flight AI-171, bound for Gatwick Airport, crashed shortly after takeoff. The girls are now mourning the loss of both their parents within just a couple of weeks.
6 The couple's four- and eight-year-old daughters are now orphaned, and mourning the loss of both their parents within just a couple of weeks.
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Officials on Saturday revealed that the pilot had issued a chilling distress call seconds before the 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner began free-falling from 650 in the air.
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'Mayday, mayday,' Capt. Sumeet Sabharwal said in his final radio communications with air traffic control, less than a minute after the flight took off from Ahmedabad Airport at 1:39 p.m.
It hit the ground in Meghani Nagar — just over a mile from the airport — and struck a medical college hostel in Gujarat State.
6 Relatives comfort parents of Arjun Patoliya, 37, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India.
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6 The crash killed 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground, according to investigators.
RAJAT GUPTA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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6 A view shows the rear of an Air India plane following its crash, in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
via REUTERS
The crash killed 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground, according to officials, who said recovery teams found at least 25 more bodies in the debris on Friday.
Only one man, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, survived the horrifying ordeal.
All of the bodies have been taken to the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad – where the survivor also remains in treatment for his injuries, Dr. Dhaval Gameti told the Associated Press.
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Read more on the Air India plane crash
'He is doing very well and will be ready to be discharged anytime soon,' Gameti told the outlet Saturday.
Relatives of the crash victims have shown up in full force, donating hundreds of DNA samples for the hospital to use to help identify their loved ones. Most bodies found so far were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognizable.
On Friday, investigators recovered the plane's digital flight data recorder, or black box, from a rooftop near the crash site.
6 Caskets to carry the remains of some of the victims of Thursday's Air India plane crash are brought in a vehicle to a hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14.
AP
6 Firefighters work to put out a fire at the site where an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India.
REUTERS
Paul Fromme, a member of the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said the device is expected to reveal information about the plane's engine and control settings.
Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti said investigators should be able to answer questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week, as long as the black box is intact.
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