Dr Pratik Joshi had been living in London for the past six years, establishing a life and home to where he would eventually migrate his wife and 3 children from India. This was their long time dream.

After years of planning, paperwork, and patience, that dream was finally coming true when he traveled to his birthland to close out and accompany his beloved family on an expected joyous trip to London. Just two days prior, his wife, Dr. Komi Vyas, also a medical professional, resigned from her job in India. The bags were packed, the goodbyes said, the future waiting.

On this fateful morning of June 12, all five of them, filled with hope, excitement, and plans, boarded Air India flight AI171 to London. Clicked this selfie, sent it to relatives. A one-way journey to begin a new life.

Arjunbhai Manubhai Patoliya, a native of Vadiya in Gujarat, had been living in London for the past few years.

Life had already dealt him a cruel blow; his wife had recently passed away in London. Fulfilling her last wish, Arjunbhai returned to his hometown to perform her final rites, leaving behind their two children in London.

In Vadiya, surrounded by grieving relatives, he completed the besnu (Hindu burial ritual) and other rituals with a heavy heart. With memories weighing him down and duty fulfilled, he boarded Air India flight AI171 on 12 June 2025 to return to his children, but fate had other plans.

The aircraft crashed, and the man who had come to bid farewell to his beloved, never returned to the children they once raised together.

What happened

At least 269 people, 241 onboard and reportedly 28 on the ground of the densely populated area, were killed when Air India passenger plane AI171 bound for London crashed in the city of Ahmedabad, India on Thursday June 12 2025.