A final goodbye message recorded by one of the British citizens onboard the ill-fated Air India flight that crashed near the Ahmedabad airport, soon after takeoff on Thursday afternoon, June 12, has surfaced on social media, striking sorrow into the hearts of online spectators.
The video posted to Instagram shows tourist Jamie Ray Meek and his partner, Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, saying goodbye to India as they board the homebound flight. The clip has invoked an immense outpouring of condolences from social media users worldwide.
Fiongal can be seen reflecting on his journey in India in the video, saying, “We’re at the airport, just boarding. Goodbye India, 10-hour flight back to London.”
He turns to Jamie and asks, “What is your biggest takeaway, Jamie?” to which the latter replies, “What’s my biggest takeaway… I don’t know.”
Fiongal teases Jamie saying, “Yeah, fascinating, great. Thanks for your contribution (laughs). My biggest takeaway is don’t lose patience with your partner.”
“You’re already starting to. You’ve already while we’re having chai at the airport. You can see you’ve learnt nothing,” Jamie replies to Fiongal’s amusement.
“Going back happily, happily, happily calm,” a visibly content Fiongal’s last words in the video.
The Air India flight took off from the Sardar Vallabbhai Patel Airport in Ahmedabad around 1:49 pm. Within minutes, air traffic controllers lost contact with the pilots after a Mayday signal was sent. The plane crashed into the BJ Medical College Hostel Mess in Meghaninagar.
Meek was listed among the passenger list as GBR 149261531. He and his partner were two of the 53 British nationals onboard the London-bound flight.
The Air India plane was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying 242 passengers with two pilots and 10 cabin crew. There were 169 Indians, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals onboard.
The pilot of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner issued a ‘Mayday’ distress call, denoting a full emergency, soon after takeoff, the Air Traffic Control at Ahmedabad said.
A 40-year-old British national of Indian origin has been confirmed as the sole survivor of the ill-fated crash.
Air India announced a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 and another for foreign nationals: +91 8062779200 in an earlier released statement.
| Edited by Veena Nair | 
