Air India Flight AI 171, en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, tragically crashed minutes after takeoff on Thursday, killing most of the 242 people on board. The aircraft went down in a residential area near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport, shortly after leaving Runway 23.
🚨 Jamie Ray Meek, a British citizen listed as a passenger on Air India Flight 171, reportedly shared a final Instagram Story shortly before takeoff.
— the Pulse (@thePulseGlobal) June 12, 2025
He appears on the official manifest under GBR 149261531. A video believed to be his last post.#India #Crash #Ahmedabad #Boeing… pic.twitter.com/KmSpz9iOi9
Among the 242 aboard were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian, in addition to 2 pilots and 10 crew members.
Two of the passengers, Jamie and Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, both British nationals, have become a focus on social media after their final Instagram stories resurfaced online, showing their excitement just before boarding the doomed flight.
In the video shared by Jamie, the couple is seen smiling and chatting at the airport.
“We are at the airport, just boarding. Goodbye India,” says Fiongal.
Jamie adds, “Goodbye. It’s a 10-hour flight back to England.”
Fiongal then asks Jamie about his “biggest takeaway” from the trip. Jamie chuckles, unsure what to say.
Fiongal ends the short clip with, “Going back happily, happily, happily calm.”
Emotional Night Before the Flight
A separate video, recorded the night before their departure, also surfaced.
“So it’s our last night in India. We’ve had a magical experience today. Mindblowing things have happened… I think this is my first ever vlog,” Fiongal says, with Jamie sitting beside him.
Jamie joins in: “There’s been too much, hasn’t there, not to document? And it would be so nice to remember this and share this with everybody because we really have been on quite a journey.”
The couple spoke of the amazing food, hotel stay, and their plans to create a vlog documenting their India visit.
Official Response
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik told AFP:
“There appears to be no survivor in the crash. And since the airplane has fallen on an area which was residential and had some offices, there are more casualties as well.”
Emergency response teams, including dozens of ambulances, rushed to the scene. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ordered swift relief and rescue operations, while Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu is personally monitoring the situation.