For many families and eyewitnesses, the tragedy did not end with the crash.
Diu resident Rafik Arab has not boarded a flight since losing his 25‑year‑old son Faizan, one of the passengers on the London-bound plane on June 12 last year, and still lives with a deep fear of air travel.
Faizan had been pursuing Islamic studies in the UK and was travelling there after meeting his family in Diu. His last text to his father was: “Papa, I have boarded the flight and I am going”.
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Who could have imagined it would be his last text? Rafik told PTI.
“We haven’t flown since that day. Even the sound of a plane overhead unsettles us, a reminder of how 260 lives vanished in seconds,” he said.Faizan’s mother and two younger brothers continue to struggle with his absence. “They miss him a lot,” Rafik said.
For Surat-based woman Mukti Vansadiya, the tragedy took away her parents, Divya (60) and Arjunsinh (65), and her peace. “My parents were my only light,” she said.
Her parents were on their first international trip – and first time on an airplane – travelling to London to visit their elder daughter.
“It’s a big thing for middle-class people to travel abroad. They were excited like children. I had told them that if they experience turbulence, they should not get scared and everything would be fine,” she recalled.
The family had originally booked another connecting flight but later changed to the Ahmedabad departure so the elderly couple would feel more comfortable travelling with Gujarati-speaking passengers.
The final moments before departure remain etched in Mukti’s memory. “At the airport, I touched my mother’s feet but forgot my father’s. I ran back, touched his feet, and he patted my back. I can never forget that feeling – it was as if he was preparing me for a war,” she said.
Hours later, while the siblings were having lunch in Vadodara, a phone call changed their lives forever.
Mukti, unmarried, struggled after losing her parents and now lives alone in Surat, while her siblings had already married before the tragedy.
The crash left Mukti battling depression. She quit her job at a travel agency and spent months in counselling. Today, she works as a social worker with a Tata Group CSR initiative, yet admits the fear remains deeply rooted.
“Whenever someone mentions airplanes, the trauma resurfaces and I grow anxious. Even thinking about it brings a dull ache to my chest,” she admitted.
“I still haven’t watched the crash video. Anything related that appears in my feed triggers anxiety, and I’ve resolved never to fly again,” she added.
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In Dhanera village of Banaskantha district, Savdhan Chaudhary (50) still waits for a future that vanished in seconds. His son Kamlesh Chaudhary and daughter‑in‑law Dhapuben, both 26, were killed in the crash just six months after their marriage.
Kamlesh, who was settled in London, had returned to India to bring his wife after her spouse visa was approved.
“It was a big thing for a village boy to settle abroad. We were all proud of him,” Savdhan said.
Kamlesh had promised to take his parents to London after Diwali and had even begun discussing retirement plans with them.
“He told us to slowly sell our livestock and stop working. He also wanted to help settle his younger brother in London,” Savdhan recalled.
Kamlesh’s mother now sits alone in a corner of a damp room while relatives visit their house for emotional support.
“I still remember the last time I saw them; they were wearing the Chaudhary family’s traditional attire at the Ahmedabad airport. Even though they were going abroad, they did not leave their roots behind,” Savdhan said.
The life of Ajay Parmar (28), an eyewitness, also changed completely. He was injured on the ground when the aircraft crashed into the Meghaninagar hostel complex. Riding home on his two‑wheeler after lunch, he suddenly found himself in the middle of the disaster.
“I suddenly heard a loud crash. Before I could understand anything, my hands and legs were burning,” he remembered.
Parmar, who was then working as a gardener, abandoned his vehicle and ran in panic. “After that, I remember nothing. The last thing I saw was my vehicle engulfed in flames before someone took me to Civil Hospital,” he said.
He spent two months in treatment for severe burns. Doctors have warned him against working under direct sunlight, making it impossible to continue his previous work. The financial strain only deepened his personal suffering.
His wife, whom he had married just a month before the crash, later left him. “She left as I could not work and my appearance had changed after the burns,” Parmar rued.
“I still fear planes overhead. I witnessed that horrifying scene of nothing but fire, and sometimes I wake in the night unable to sleep again,” he said.