Air India plane crash: Couple expecting baby among victims
A seven-month pregnant woman and her husband were among those to die in the Air India plane crash. Vaibhav Patel, 29, and his 27-year-old wife Jinal Goswami had travelled to Ahmedabad for their baby shower. The couple were living in Croydon, London, but had recently moved from Southampton in Hampshire where Mr Patel had worked. Their close friend Nirav Patel told the BBC the pair were very happy and excited for the birth of their first child.
Their funeral was held in India on Monday.Nirav, who lives in Southampton, said he had been friends with Vaibhav for over a decade and knew him from Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
He said that Viabhav, who had been married to his wife for four years, was a "good person who always supported his family and friends"."When he worked in Southampton I saw him a lot. We worked together at Papa Johns in Portswood. "The couple were in Ahmedabad to celebrate their own baby shower. It was on the 5 June. She was seven months pregnant. They were very happy. "Vaibhav did not have a father, so he was the big son supporting the family back in India."Nirav said news of the came as a huge shock to him and all of the family in India.
"He had rung me two days before the flight to tell me he was coming home," he said. "We were very good friends and had so much fun together... many trips around India, like to Goa or Rajasthan. This is a massive loss."The manager of Papa John's in Portswood, Southampton, where Vaibhav Patel had previously worked said he was a "true gentleman". Harshil Thaker said his ex-employee "worked very hard and was a family man".There were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian on the flight.Doctors in India say 270 bodies have been recovered from the site of the crash.
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Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
British nationals' remains are among the unidentified more than a week after Air India crash as death toll continues to climb
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Telegraph
a day ago
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Sky News
2 days ago
- Sky News
How are investigators looking into the Air India crash - and how long could they take?
The devastating Air India plane crash which killed 229 passengers and 12 crew has been labelled a "mystery" by experts. The Gatwick-bound flight, which was carrying 53 Britons, came down just after take-off from Ahmedabad airport in western India on Thursday 12 June, leaving only one survivor and also killing people on the ground. CCTV footage was captured of the crash, but experts say it has led to more questions than answers. An ongoing investigation will be reviewing the footage and other key evidence left in the crash's wake. But what are investigators looking at - and how long could it take? What is unusual about the crash? Air India Flight 171 took off from Ahmedabad Airport at 1.38pm local time on Thursday, and was only in the air for around half a minute. CCTV footage shows the plane struggling to gain altitude and it quickly begins to descend towards buildings, with its wheels still out and its nose raised. 0:56 It crashed into a densely populated neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, killing at least 29 other people on the ground. According to flight-tracking website Flightradar, the aircraft reached a height of just 625ft before crashing. The plane was a 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner, of which there are currently around 1,200 in operation worldwide. While other Boeing planes like the 787 Max have been plagued by high-profile safety incidents, this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of the Dreamliner model's operation, according to experts. 1:16 Several experts have told Sky News that they spotted potential anomalies in the footage. One of them was the landing gear, which appears to remain open throughout the clip. 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