Vadodara: Fifteen months after Air India Flight 171 crashed in Ahmedabad, the families of British victims have written to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and foreign secretary Ed Miliband seeking an urgent Downing Street meeting over the crash investigation, the handling of human remains, consular support and a permanent memorial at the crash site.The open letter, dated Sep 21, has been submitted by Miten Patel of Orpington, Kent, who lost his parents, Ashok and Shobhana Patel, in the June 12, 2025 crash. It is supported by the families of 23 British victims, 12 non-British victims and the deceased pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal.Patel describes himself as “a grieving citizen, a voter, and an orphaned son seeking justice for my late parents” and says families were left to deal with foreign authorities, international aviation protocols and the aftermath of the disaster “entirely on our own”.A key demand is the formal involvement of the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (UK-AAIB) in the AI171 investigation. The families want the AAIB to “actively participate in, review or launch an independent assessment” of the structural and mechanical causes of the crash, including issues related to UK Civil Aviation Authority Safety Notice SN-2015/005.The letter raised issues with the handling of victims’ remains. Patel said CT scans ordered by UK Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox after his parents’ remains were repatriated revealed that his mother’s remains had been commingled with those of another victim. He also cites the case of British victim Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, whose remains, he says, did not return to the UK while another victim’s remains were sent to his family.“To lose both parents in a disaster is a lifelong sentence of grief,” Patel writes, calling the alleged mishandling of his mother’s remains “a profound violation that no family should ever have to endure”.He further said that an Indian postmortem report issued in Jan 2026 incorrectly stated that portions of his mother’s remains were missing. Patel says the UK coroner subsequently confirmed in June that his mother’s remains had been fully recovered. The families are seeking a binding bilateral forensic inquiry into the handling and identification of remains.The families have also cites UK CAA Safety Notice SN-2015/005, reissued on May 15, 2025, less than a month before the crash, concerning corrective action related to fuel shut-off valve mechanisms on Boeing aircraft, including the Boeing 787.“We demand to know whether this known, flagged defect contributed to the downing of Air India Flight 171,” Patel wrote. The letter seeks global harmonisation of safety directives so mandatory safety actions are uniformly applied to international carriers.The families have separately sought a review of Britain’s consular response, saying that family liaison officers promised to victims’ families were withdrawn in Aug 2025. Patel said he subsequently dealt with three different consular caseworkers.They are also seeking a permanent memorial at the BJ Medical College hostel site, where the aircraft crashed. Patel says the location is “an irreplaceable site connected to the lives and memories of our loved ones” and wants a portion of the site preserved as a memorial.Invoking Burnham’s work surrounding the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, the letter urges the UK govt to demonstrate a similar commitment to accountability. The families requested a face-to-face meeting with Burnham and Miliband to establish a formal path forward.—Five demandsFormal AAIB involvement in AI171 investigationBinding bilateral forensic inquiry into handling of remainsGlobal harmonisation of aviation safety directivesReview of UK consular support and withdrawal of family liaison officersPermanent memorial at BJ Medical College crash site
