Ahmedabad:
The Air India flight AI 171, which crashed last week, flew the same route on Monday rebranded as AI 159 to London’s Gatwick airport.
The flight which took off from Ahmedabad, ferried at least one passenger who might have been on the crashed aircraft four days earlier had his mother not taken ill suddenly, according to Times of India.
Jayesh Ramji approached Gate 4 of Terminal 2 by tightly clasping his cabin bag. “I was to return on AI 171. I postponed my travel to June 16 because my mother was unwell. All I want is to get back home safe,” he told TOI.
Ramji (34) is a London shop assistant with roots in Diu. “I trust God & AI. I want to go back, not stay scared forever,” he said.
However, Ramji was not the only person who felt such emotions ahead of boarding the renumbered flight AI 159. The flight departed at 4.30 pm, over three hours later than scheduled.
Raas Mishra (28) bid goodbye to his teary-eyed parents. “They were scared. I am a tad nervous, too, but I have flown Air India before. I trust their pilots,” said Mishra (28). He is employed with a logistics firm in London.
For 72-year-old Kokila Patel of Patan, the announcement of a flight delay added to what she described as “emotional exhaustion”. “My son said I should book another airline. But I had already confirmed my travel on June 16 with Air India by then,” she told TOI.
Sabina Qasmani (21) from Veraval, was heading back to the UK to join her father and siblings. Her mother, Ameena, told TPI that she would be anxious until she received Sabina’s call from London saying she had reached safely. “Since the crash, I haven’t been able to sleep. Sabina is flying the same route. It’s hard not to worry,” she told TOI.
Meanwhile, for Riddhi, a young married woman returning to the UK, the journey was about managing mixed emotions. “This is my second trip home since getting married. I was happy being with my family, but I now want to get back safely to my husband,” she said.
The Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London, carrying 242 passengers and crew, crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12 afternoon. Barring one survivor, no one else could be rescued. Air India confirmed that 241 out of 242 people aboard the flight have died.
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