Cliff Notes
- Chirag Mahesh Patel, son of Air India crash victim Manju Mahesh Patel, expressed profound grief and anticipates reliving his mother’s last moments “to the day he dies.”
- Ms Patel, 79, was returning to Gatwick after volunteering in Ahmedabad; her son noted the heartbreaking anticipation she had to reunite with her grandchildren.
- Chirag criticized Air India’s response, labelling it “disgusting” and “appalling,” and demanded answers regarding the accident and their handling of the situation.
Air India plane crash victim’s son says he’ll relive his mother’s last moments ‘to the day I die’
The son of an Air India plane crash victim, who was sitting one row behind the man who survived, has told Sky News he will relive “her last moments” until the day he dies.
Manju Mahesh Patel, 79, was on the London Gatwick-bound plane when it crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off on Thursday.
She was sitting in seat 12D on flight AI 171, the row behind the only person to survive the crash who was sitting in 11A.
In an interview with Sky News, Chirag Mahesh Patel, Manju’s son, said he hopes his mother’s death was “instant” and “painless”.
“To the day I die I will think, ‘what were her last moments?’,” he said.
Pointing to a framed family photograph of Ms Patel at the family home, he added: “I want to remember mum like this.
“I don’t want to have to go and identify a burnt corpse, your own parent. How does someone, how do you ever get over that? That will be with me, that’s with me for life.”
Ms Patel had been staying in Ahmedabad for the past few months doing charity work at a temple. She was due to be picked up by her son at Gatwick on Thursday night.
In tears, Mr Patel described his mother as “very strong” and a woman “who really loved her family”.
“The thing about my mum,” he said, “is her bond with her faith. It’s unbreakable.
“She had ultimate faith… and in times of stress she would always say God’s name… So, I know that upon take-off, I know that she was saying his name.”
