Latest news with #James Healy-Pratt
RNZ News
24-07-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Some Air India victims' families in UK were sent wrong remains, lawyer says
By Sana Noor Haq , CNN All but one of 242 passengers and crew members were killed on June 12. Photo: AFP / Middle East Images / Basit Zargar Authorities in India sent the wrong remains to some British families whose loved ones were killed in a plane crash last month , their lawyer has claimed, as relatives reckoned with the human cost of the world's deadliest aviation accident in a decade. At least two UK nationals were discovered to have been misidentified after they were repatriated, according to James Healy-Pratt, an international aviation lawyer who is representing some of the British relatives of victims. In one case, a coroner in London discovered that the DNA of several bodies had been co-mingled in one of the caskets, Healy-Pratt told UK news agency PA Media. Dr Fiona Shaw "picked up DNA anomalies" when the bodies were first repatriated, Healy-Pratt said. "My understanding was that the co-mingling was at the very beginning, which alerted Dr Wilcox to the fact that she had to be 100% assiduous about checking the identification of the incoming remains," the lawyer added. "She was then able to determine that one particular loved one was not at all who the family thought they were," said Healy-Pratt. All but one of 242 passengers and crew members were killed on June 12, after an Air India jet lost momentum and hurtled into a densely populated neighborhood in Ahmedabad, western India. The London-bound aircraft had barely left the runway of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport before it spun out of control and nosedived into the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel - also killing 19 people on the ground. Authorities have not yet released the definitive cause of the crash, but a preliminary report suggested that the fuel control switches in the cockpit of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had been flipped , depriving the engines of power. In an audio recording from the black box, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he flipped the switches, according to the assessment by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau published last week. The other pilot responds that he did not. Moments later, the switches were flipped to turn the fuel supply back on. Both engines relit and one began to "progress to recovery," but it was too late to halt the plane's tumultuous descent. Of those killed on board, at least 169 were Indian nationals, seven were Portuguese and one was from Canada. The only survivor was Vishwash Kumar Ramesh , one of 53 UK passengers that day who told local media that he escaped by clinging onto a small space near the door by his seat. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the only survivor of the Air India crash. Photo: Narendra Modi / YouTube / AFP The relatives of three victims said they were "deeply troubled" by the revelations on Wednesday, calling on authorities to act with "care, co-ordination and respect." "Recent developments have only confirmed what many feared: that serious mistakes may have been made, and that the dignity and rights of victims and their families were not safeguarded as they should have been," they said in a statement. The relatives of Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee and their four-year-old daughter Sara Nanabawa added that while they are "confident" they received the "correct bodies" - they were still "deeply troubled by what this means for other families who may still be searching for certainty and closure." "This isn't just a personal tragedy; it is a collective one." India's foreign ministry had been "working closely with the UK side from the moment these concerns and issues" were raised, according to a spokesperson. Authorities conducted identification of victims using "established protocols and technical requirements," foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X on Wednesday. "All mortal remains were handled with the utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased," Jaiswal added. "We are continuing to work with the UK authorities on addressing any concerns related to this issue." The case came on the heels of a meeting in London between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, as the two nations sign a landmark free trade agreement. Healy-Pratt, who is demanding "financial justice" for the families, said he believes the allegations will be on the agenda for the talks this week. - CNN
CTV News
23-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
Some Air India victims' families in U.K. were sent wrong remains, lawyer says
A crane lifts the tail of the Air India plane, which crashed on Thursday, from the roof of a building in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Authorities in India sent the wrong remains to some British families whose loved ones were killed in a plane crash last month, their lawyer has claimed, as relatives reckoned with the human cost of the world's deadliest aviation accident in a decade. At least two U.K. nationals were discovered to have been misidentified after they were repatriated, according to James Healy-Pratt, an international aviation lawyer who is representing some of the British relatives of victims. In one case, a coroner in London discovered that the DNA of several bodies had been co-mingled in one of the caskets, Healy-Pratt told U.K. news agency PA Media. Dr Fiona Shaw 'picked up DNA anomalies' when the bodies were first repatriated, Healy-Pratt said. 'My understanding was that the co-mingling was at the very beginning, which alerted Dr Wilcox to the fact that she had to be 100% assiduous about checking the identification of the incoming remains,' the lawyer added. 'She was then able to determine that one particular loved one was not at all who the family thought they were,' said Healy-Pratt. All but one of 242 passengers and crew members were killed on June 12, after an Air India jet lost momentum and hurtled into a densely populated neighborhood in Ahmedabad, western India. The London-bound aircraft had barely left the runway of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport before it spun out of control and nosedived into the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel – also killing 19 people on the ground. Authorities have not yet released the definitive cause of the crash, but a preliminary report suggested that the fuel control switches in the cockpit of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had been flipped, depriving the engines of power. In an audio recording from the black box, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he flipped the switches, according to the assessment by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau published last week. The other pilot responds that he did not. Moments later, the switches were flipped to turn the fuel supply back on. Both engines relit and one began to 'progress to recovery,' but it was too late to halt the plane's tumultuous descent. Of those killed on board, at least 169 were Indian nationals, seven were Portuguese and one was from Canada. The only survivor was Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, one of 53 U.K. passengers that day who told local media that he escaped by clinging onto a small space near the door by his seat. 'Deeply troubled' The relatives of three victims said they were 'deeply troubled' by the revelations on Wednesday, calling on authorities to act with 'care, co-ordination and respect.' 'Recent developments have only confirmed what many feared: that serious mistakes may have been made, and that the dignity and rights of victims and their families were not safeguarded as they should have been,' they said in a statement. The relatives of Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee and their four-year-old daughter Sara Nanabawa added that while they are 'confident' they received the 'correct bodies' - they were still 'deeply troubled by what this means for other families who may still be searching for certainty and closure.' 'This isn't just a personal tragedy; it is a collective one.' India's foreign ministry had been 'working closely with the U.K. side from the moment these concerns and issues' were raised, according to a spokesperson. Authorities conducted identification of victims using 'established protocols and technical requirements,' foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X on Wednesday. 'All mortal remains were handled with the utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased,' Jaiswal added. 'We are continuing to work with the U.K. authorities on addressing any concerns related to this issue.' The case came on the heels of a meeting in London between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, as the two nations sign a landmark free trade agreement. Healy-Pratt, who is demanding 'financial justice' for the families, said he believes the allegations will be on the agenda for the talks this week.
CNN
23-07-2025
- General
- CNN
Some Air India victims' families in UK were sent wrong remains, lawyer says
FacebookTweetLink Authorities in India sent the wrong remains to some British families whose loved ones were killed in a plane crash last month, their lawyer has claimed, as relatives reckoned with the human cost of the world's deadliest aviation accident in a decade. At least two UK nationals were discovered to have been misidentified after they were repatriated, according to James Healy-Pratt, an international aviation lawyer who is representing some of the British relatives of victims. In one case, a coroner in London discovered that the DNA of several bodies had been co-mingled in one of the caskets, Healy-Pratt told UK news agency PA Media. Dr Fiona Shaw 'picked up DNA anomalies' when the bodies were first repatriated, Healy-Pratt said. 'My understanding was that the co-mingling was at the very beginning, which alerted Dr Wilcox to the fact that she had to be 100% assiduous about checking the identification of the incoming remains,' the lawyer added. 'She was then able to determine that one particular loved one was not at all who the family thought they were,' said Healy-Pratt. All but one of 242 passengers and crew members were killed on June 12, after an Air India jet lost momentum and hurtled into a densely populated neighborhood in Ahmedabad, western India. The London-bound aircraft had barely left the runway of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport before it spun out of control and nosedived into the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel – also killing 19 people on the ground. Authorities have not yet released the definitive cause of the crash, but a preliminary report suggested that the fuel control switches in the cockpit of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had been flipped, depriving the engines of power. In an audio recording from the black box, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he flipped the switches, according to the assessment by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau published last week. The other pilot responds that he did not. Moments later, the switches were flipped to turn the fuel supply back on. Both engines relit and one began to 'progress to recovery,' but it was too late to halt the plane's tumultuous descent. Of those killed on board, at least 169 were Indian nationals, seven were Portuguese and one was from Canada. The only survivor was Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, one of 53 UK passengers that day who told local media that he escaped by clinging onto a small space near the door by his seat. The relatives of three victims said they were 'deeply troubled' by the revelations on Wednesday, calling on authorities to act with 'care, co-ordination and respect.' 'Recent developments have only confirmed what many feared: that serious mistakes may have been made, and that the dignity and rights of victims and their families were not safeguarded as they should have been,' they said in a statement. The relatives of Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee and their four-year-old daughter Sara Nanabawa added that while they are 'confident' they received the 'correct bodies' - they were still 'deeply troubled by what this means for other families who may still be searching for certainty and closure.' 'This isn't just a personal tragedy; it is a collective one.' India's foreign ministry had been 'working closely with the UK side from the moment these concerns and issues' were raised, according to a spokesperson. Authorities conducted identification of victims using 'established protocols and technical requirements,' foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X on Wednesday. 'All mortal remains were handled with the utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased,' Jaiswal added. 'We are continuing to work with the UK authorities on addressing any concerns related to this issue.' The case came on the heels of a meeting in London between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, as the two nations sign a landmark free trade agreement. Healy-Pratt, who is demanding 'financial justice' for the families, said he believes the allegations will be on the agenda for the talks this week.
New York Times
23-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
2 U.K. Families Received ‘Wrong Remains' of Air India Crash Victims, Lawyer Says
The families of two British citizens who died in a plane crash in India last month were sent the remains of other people, according to a lawyer representing the families. In one case, DNA samples taken from a casket found 'commingling' of genetic material from more than one victim of the crash of Air India Flight 171 in Ahmedabad, India, said the lawyer, James Healy-Pratt. In the other case, a DNA sample taken from the casket did not match that of the victim, he said. Both families were forced to delay funeral plans because of the errors, said Mr. Healy-Pratt, who is representing more than 20 British families who lost loved ones in the June 12 crash that killed 260 people. 'This has added an indescribable psychological distress to families who are already going through the trauma of losing a loved one,' he said. Mr. Healy-Pratt did not identify the families who had received the mismatched remains. News of the errors, which were earlier reported by Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India began a two-day state visit to London on Wednesday. Mr. Modi was expected to meet with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain to sign a trade agreement. In response to the report, a spokesman for India's ministry of external affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, said in a statement on Wednesday that the Indian authorities had adhered to 'established protocols and technical requirements' when identifying the victims, and that the Indian government was working with British authorities to address the matter. 'All mortal remains were handled with utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased,' Mr. Jaiswal said. The two British citizens were among 53 Britons who died when the Air India plane crashed into a medical college seconds after takeoff in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. The investigation of the crash is ongoing, but a preliminary report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau found that the Boeing 787-8 jet's fuel switches had changed position. The errors with the remains were discovered by the coroner for Inner West London who conducted DNA testing after the remains were repatriated to verify that they matched that of family members, Mr. Healy-Pratt said. The coroner, Dr. Fiona Wilcox, did not return a request for comment. The remains of 12 British victims have been repatriated so far, Mr. Healy-Pratt said, adding that the remains of the other 10 victims had been accurately identified. While Britain sent forensic specialists to advise British families in India after the crash, the process of DNA identification and the placement of remains in the caskets was handled by the Indian authorities, a spokeswoman for Britain's National Police Chiefs' Council said in an email. In the days after the crash, family members of the British victims traveled to India to provide DNA samples, and had been assured by the Indian authorities that the remains would be properly handled, Mr. Healy-Pratt said. 'It's appalling that the families have to go through this,' he said. 'You lose a loved one on the 12th of June, and within a matter of weeks you virtually lost them again.'
