
Doomed Air India flight passenger's heartbreaking final words to her husband just minutes before take-off revealed
A WIFE on the doomed Air India flight excitedly called her husband just minutes before take-off to say she would be home soon.
Nurat Jahar, 29, and care worker hubby Sohail Iproyaliya had gone to Gujarat to visit family at the start of May.
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He had to return home to Leicester a fortnight later, and Nurat was heading back on Thursday on tragic flight AI 171.
She could not wait to see her husband of five years and called him one last time on her mobile as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was taxiing on the runway ready to take off.
But around an hour later, stunned Sohail was told she was dead.
Heartbroken family friend Mohammed Ghanchi, 28, said: 'Sohail had to come home after two weeks because of work commitments but she stayed to look after her father while her brother went to Mecca.'
Another friend Shahrukh Mg, 33, added: 'They were very happy. We are all shocked at the loss.
'She was a very kind character, extremely friendly. Sohail is so upset. He flew to India yesterday.'
The couple lived just a few hundred yards from the Leicester home of miracle survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40.
The death toll rose to 279 with 38 people killed on the ground making the tragedy the worst aviation disaster this century after 9/11, and India's worst-ever single air tragedy.
A total of 241 passengers and crew were killed when the 787 began to lose height 17 seconds after take-off when it had reached 625ft.
It hit the hostel of a medical college 16 seconds later, erupting into a huge fireball.
'I opened my eyes & slipped out'…Brit sole survivor of Air India crash details escape
Rescuers yesterday made a grim discovery of another body in the jet's tail section.
Doctors are relying on DNA and dental records to identify the badly burnt remains.
King Charles led a minute's silence during yesterday's Trooping the Colour.
He requested the tribute himself and he and other senior royals in the parade wore black armbands.
The King expressed his 'deepest possible sympathy'.
Meanwhile, Indian politician Sanjay Raut speculated that the plane was downed by a 'cyber-attack'.
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The black box containing flight data has been recovered — but the second box, which records the pilots speaking, is still missing.
The plane can fly with one engine, leading to theories that it may have had a rare double engine failure.
British and American investigators have now joined the investigation.
The plane had recently completed the Paris-Delhi-Ahmedabad route without incident.
The pilot of the IndiGo budget airline flight immediately behind AI 171 on the runway aborted his own take-off when he realised something was wrong — and moments later watched as the plane crashed.
Air India is to retire flight number AI 171. The Gatwick route will now be AI 159.
Family at survivor's bedside
By JULIA ATHERLEY
MORE than 20 family members of the sole survivor of the Air India crash flew out to be at his bedside yesterday.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, from Leicester, lost his brother Ajay on the doomed 787 flight.
The siblings were sitting on different sides of the same row, with Vishwash located near the emergency exit.
His cousin Hiren Kantilal, 19, said: 'He can't believe he has lost his brother. We are all heartbroken that we lost him.'
From his hospital bed, Vishwash detailed his miracle escape.
He said: 'I managed to unbuckle myself, used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out.
'Everyone around me was either dead or dying.
'I still don't understand how I escaped.'
Ketan Shah, from Bournemouth, was named as one of the victims. He was returning to Britain after visiting his sick father.
The 43-year-old, who lived in Bournemouth with wife Megha and their teenage son and daughter, had run a village store in Shipton Bellinger, Hants, for 15 years.
Fellow passenger Ash Harrington, 27, from Suffolk, was heading back to the UK on the flight with his father Suresh Patel and grandmother Radhabi Patel.
His mother Andrea Bonner posted on social media: 'I will never heal this pain. RIP my son.'
Orphan fund £400k
A FUNDRAISER has been set up for two young sisters who were orphaned when their father was killed in the crash while returning from scattering his wife's ashes.
Arjun Patoliya, 37, from Harrow, North West London, had flown to Gujarat to honour his wife Bharatiben, 42, who died of cancer in May.
Last night the total donations stood at £400,000.
All cash raised will go to a legal trust or appointed guardians for Jiya, eight, and four-year-old Roya.
The GoFundMe page, set up by a family friend, said the money would provide 'security, stability and love in the years ahead'.
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Telegraph
30 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Mother of two is first British Air India crash victim released to family
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The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
Air India pilot's last words moments before aircraft crashed to the ground revealed
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Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Air India crash victim's tragic five words on call from doomed flight
Ramesh Patel was one of 53 Brits on the Gatwick Airport-bound Air India flight when the aircraft crashed just moments after take-off in Ahmedabad The family of a British national who died on the doomed Air India flight has revealed the tragic last message he sent - just moments before the fatal crash that claimed 270 lives. Ramesh Patel was one of the 53 Brits on the Gatwick Airport-bound flight when the aircraft crashed just moments after take-off in Ahmedabad. According to his devastated family, Mr Patel travelled to India every year to eat his favourite citrus fruit and had a strong connection to his roots. On the day of the crash, he called his daughter-in-law Kajal Patel to inform her he had arrived at the airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday, and had a window seat for his flight back to Gatwick Airport. He first called her to tell her the "weight of the luggage is okay." She later messaged him to "make sure everything is okay' and to wish him a "safe journey". Mr Patel told her he wouldn't ring her again and she said: "That's fine, you just relax, don't worry about, I will update everyone at home that you are safe in the plane". Tragically, he rang his family one last time to say: "I am on the plane safely" and "that it's on time". Kajal said she responded by saying "safe journey and we will see you in the evening". Kajal told local media she had prepared his favourite meal, a Gujarati dish containing lentils and eggplant, and that he was also "looking forward to eating fish and chips as well". The heartbreaking accident killed 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger remarkably survived. Authorities have started handing over remains of the victims of one of India's worst aviation disasters after identifying some through DNA tests, days after the Air India flight crashed. The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after take-off Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger survived. Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims provided DNA samples at the hospital. Most of the bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognisable. Rajneesh Patel, an official at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, said authorities have so far identified 32 victims through DNA mapping and their families were informed. He said the remains of 14 victims were handed over to relatives. The victims' families waited outside the hospital mortuary as authorities worked to complete formalities and transfer the bodies in coffins into ambulances. Most of them have expressed frustration at a slow pace of the identification process. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process.