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Families of the Air India crash victims have sought permission to hold a candlelight vigil in Ahmedabad on the first anniversary of the disaster.
All but one of the 242 passengers and crew on board and 19 people on the ground were killed when the London-bound flight crashed minutes after taking off from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on 12 June last year.
Investigators later found that the Boeing Dreamliner aircraft’s fuel control switches had flipped off, starving the engines and causing the crash. Indian aviation authorities were expected to release an interim inquiry report around the anniversary.
In an email to several Indian government offices, including the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, Bhavesh Hirpara, a UK resident, wrote: “We kindly request your permission to visit the AI171 crash site in Meghani Nagar, Ahmedabad, on 12 June 2026, from 5.15pm to 6pm, to pay tribute to our love ones.”
Mr Hirpara lost his parents, Babubhai Laljibhai Hirpara and Vimlaben Babubhai Hirpara, in the disaster.
“We have been emailing and visiting different government offices in Ahmedabad for permission,” he wrote, adding that they had been asked to contact the bureau for permission.
Nearly 150 relatives of the victims were expected to attend the candlelight vigil, according to the email seen by The Independent.
“We only wish to stand outside the crash site, observe in silence, light candles and pray for our loved one,” Mr Hirpara wrote.
Air India, meanwhile, is offering tickets to some of the affected families to travel to Ahmedabad ahead of the anniversary.
“I have received the mail,” Imran Vohra, who lost three of his relatives in the crash, said.
“We wish to inform you that travel arrangements are being made to facilitate the visit of up to 3 family members to Ahmedabad to perform the rituals marking the first death anniversary of their loved ones,” the email reads.
In another communication, the airline offered to pay for air tickets on routes where it wasn’t running flights.
“The incurred expenses may be submitted to us for reimbursement,” read an email sent to some of the families
The emails did not go to all families.
The family of Harpreet Hora, a tech worker from Bengaluru who was travelling on the Boeing 787 to see her husband in London, said they did not receive any such offer from the airline. “But even if they had, we are afraid to travel by air,” said Hora’s sister who asked not to be named.
“Air India is not booking tickets in advance and is instead asking families to make their own bookings, submit receipts, and wait for possible reimbursement later,” said Ayush Dubey at Chionuma Law, the firm representing more than 120 families affected by the crash.
“At such a sensitive time, families should not have to repeatedly follow up or arrange money on their own for travel connected to the first death anniversary of their loved ones,” he added. “This support should be clear, uniform, and available to every affected family.”
The Independent has contacted the airline as well as the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau for comment.
