Air India plane crash: Victim’s heartbreaking final video revealed before crash

Just hours before boarding the tragic Air India flight to London, a British wellness influencer couple posted a video to family and friends about their “magical” trip.

A heartbreaking final video posted by a fashion designer-turned-wellness influencer has been revealed just hours before their tragic death on the Air India crash that claimed 241 lives.

Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, and his husband Jamie Meek, 45, were among the passengers who died when the flight crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad on June 12, bound for Gatwick.

In the chilling final clip filmed at Ahmedabad airport, Fiongal and Jamie, dressed in floral shirts and visibly happy, reflect on their trip.

Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek died in the crash. Picture: Facebook

Fiongal says: “We are at the airport just boarding. Goodbye India. Ten-hour flight back to England. What was your biggest takeaway Jamie?”

Jamie responds: “I don’t know,” prompting Fiongal’s laughter and a teasing, “Thanks for your contribution.”

Fiongal jokes that his main lesson was “don’t lose your patience with your partner,” to which Jamie smiles and replies, “You snapped at me at the airport for having chai.”

Passengers mill in the background as Fiongal adds, “I’m going back to Britain happily, happily calm.”

Fiongal was often seen on the This Morning program in the UK discussing the healthy lifestyle company he founded with his husband.

This Morning paid tribute to Fiongal during Friday’s broadcast in Britain.

“We are starting today with the tragic flight disaster dominating the news this morning,” host Dermot O’Leary said. “Sadly, one of those believed to have lost his life is Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek.”

Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, 45, (right) and husband Fiongal, 39, live in London, run a wellness and healthy lifestyle company, and had been in India on holiday. Picture: Supplied

Co-presenter Alison Hammond added: “Of the 242 people on board, 241 lost their lives, including 52 from the UK, making it the worst aviation disaster involving British nationals since the 9/11 attacks.”

Martin Frizell, former editor of This Morning, posted a touching tribute on Instagram, sharing a photo of Fiongal smiling alongside Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley.

He wrote: “So, so sad to hear that Fiongal Greenlaw Meek and his partner are reported to be among the passengers and crew killed today on board the Air India flight bound for Gatwick.

“I remember his visit to the studio in January, he was passionate about auras and although I’m a sceptical sort his vibrancy and sheer enthusiasm won folk over.

“And I know for a fact that he hoped to use his appearance on This Morning to build his Wellness brand, he had a great future ahead of him.

Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek during an appearance on Britain’s This Morning program. Picture: Supplied

“Thoughts are with his family and friends and those of his partner Jamie.”

Jamie’s brother Nick Meek told the Daily Mail: “We were expecting him home tonight. He should have landed at 6.30pm and then driven up for about 11pm to get his dog who is staying with our mum.

“She is not in a good way. It is all very raw for her at the moment. It’s a lot to take in and we only heard this news a couple of hours ago.”

Jamie and Fiongal, who lived in London and ran the wellness brand the Wellness Foundry, had been in India for about 10 days on a wellness retreat.

The London-bound plane carrying 242 passengers, including 53 British nationals, 169 Indians, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, crashed just moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat.

This Morning hosts Alison Hammond and Dermott Leary speak about the death of colleague Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek. Picture: Supplied

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner careened back down to earth in the densely populated Meghani area of the city just minutes after leaving the runway around 1.40pm local time (5.10pm AEST).

One man miraculously walked away from the crash.

According to police, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, from London, was seated in 11A, and survived.

All other passengers on board Air India Flight 171 plus dozens of people on the ground are feared to have died in the tragedy. The death toll currently sits at 294.

Names of the victims are starting to emerge.

KINAL MISTRY

London-based Kinal Mistry was on her way home to her adopted city after visiting with family so her dad Suraj thought there was time for one last selfie at the airport.

Suraj said Kinal had promised they would meet again soon. “Yes, Daddy, very soon,” she said before boarding Air India flight 171 to Gatwick.

Kinal Mistry (far right) in a selfie taken with her mother and father at the airport just before she boarded the Air India flight to London. Picture: Supplied

“What can I say about Kinal? She was a wonder,” Kinal’s father, Suraj Mistry, told the Guardian. “She lit up every room with her smile, she could strike up a friendship with anyone. She was beautiful, inside and out. That’s just who she was.”

Suraj said Kinal had just got married and moved to London last year where she worked as a choreographer and had also set up a food business out of her own kitchen, as “she loved nothing more than feeding people”.

“In just one day, our whole world has fallen apart. I don’t know if it makes me foolish, but I’m still hoping. Hoping for a miracle. Please, just one miracle.”

AAKASH PATNI

The 15-year-old Aakash Patni had gone to deliver lunch to his mother at the tea stall she ran outside a student doctors’ hostel. As Aakash’s mum, Sita, sat down to eat her lunch, the teenager manned the stall just as Air India flight 171 hit the building, engulfing it in flames.

Sita ran towards the stall in an attempt to save her son, and was caught up in the fire, but to no avail. Aakash’s charred corpse was later recovered by the authorities.

Aakash Patni with mum Sita. The 15-year-old died after the Air India flight crashed into a building he was near. Sita survived but has serious burns to more than half her body. Picture: Supplied

Sita survived but is seriously ill with burns over more than half of her body. “She keeps asking me about Aakash, but I just tell her he is also being treated,” said says Aakash’s father,

Suresh,

“How do I tell her the truth? I’m afraid she’ll lose the will to survive. And I can’t afford to lose her too,” he told reporters. “Not now. Not after this.”

SOLE SURVIVOR’S BROTHER

The brother of the only survivor of the crash, Mr Ramesh, was sitting on the other side of the aisle in seat 11J, according to reports.

Ajaykuma Ramesh, 35, had been on a business trip with his brother before they boarded the flight.

From his hospital bed an injured Vishwash has been begging for his brother: “Find Ajay, you must find Ajay”.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh survived the Air India plane crash, and has been begging for his brother Ajaykumar, who was also on the flight, to be found.

FAMILY OF THREE

Akeel Nanawaba (right), 36, his wife Hannaa Vorajee (left), 30, and their four-year-old daughter Sarah were flying home from a five-day family celebration when the Air India Dreamliner crashed. Picture: Supplied

Akeel Nanawaba, 36, his wife Hannaa Vorajee, 30, and their daughter Sarah, four, were flying home from a five-day family celebration when the Dreamliner crashed.

The successful young couple ran a global recruitment agency with offices in Ahmedabad and Gloucester.

Their shocked business partner Shoyeb Khan Nagori told the Daily Mail: “I had dinner with them last night. They were a lovely family and Akeel and his wife were extremely successful people.”

Businessman Akeel Nanawaba died alongside his wife Hannaa Vorajee and four-year-old daughter on the Air India flight. Picture: Supplied

Hannaa Vorajee and her husband Akeel Nanawaba ran a global recruitment agency with offices in Ahmedabad and Gloucester. Picture: Supplied

Mr Nagori said he was too upset to find the words to describe their daughter Sarah who had spent time with her grandfather during the brief visit.

“They were here to celebrate a family festival and to spend some time with Akeel’s father.

“Akeel was a really good man, I’m in shock, we were all having dinner together the night before.”

Mr Nagori was with hundreds of other relatives of crash victims waiting for updates at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.

He founded recruitment company Iceberg Outsourcing Services with Mr Nanbawa, who was the managing director.

PILOT

First Officer Clive Kunder, from Mumbai, was on the doomed Air India flight that crashed moments after takeoff. Picture: Supplied

FLIGHT ATTENDANT

Travel influencer and stewardess Roshni Rajendra Songhare was also aboard the plane when it went down, reports the Hindustan Times.

Air hostess Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam was named by local media as being on board the ill-fated Air India Flight 171. Picture: Supplied

She shared her travel adventures to her 54,000 followers on Instagram.

“We are profoundly saddened by the tragic demise of Ms. Roshni Songhare from Dombivli in the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad,” Ravindra Chavan, a politician in India’s Maharashtra MLA, said in a statement.

“May her soul attain eternal peace.”

FAMILY OF SEVEN

According to the Daily Mail, Javed Ali Syed, his wife and two children and Raxa Modha, her grandson Rudra and her daughter-in-law Yasha Kamdar were also on the doomed flight.

Raxa Modha (L) is believed to have died in the Air India tragedy. Picture: Supplied

FORMER MINISTER

Ex-Indian politician Vijay Rupani, 68, also died in the Air India crash.

“Our leader and former Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani, was going (to London) to meet his family. He is also a victim in this incident. May his soul rest in peace. This is a big loss for the BJP,” Union Minister and Gujarat BJP president CR Patil said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is a political party in India.

Former Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani, is one of the victims of the Air India crash. He is pictured here during an election campaign in New Delhi. Picture: Getty Images)

Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani. Picture: Getty Images

WHAT HAPPENED

Terrifying CCTV footage shows the plane appear to lose control before it starts rapidly descending with a high nose angle and landing gear deployed.

It plunges into the ground and explodes in a huge fireball, as a massive plume of black smoke is seen billowing out from crash site.

A piece of the wing off the Air India flight. Picture: Supplied

The back of Air India flight 171 is pictured at the site after it crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad. Picture: AFP

Aviation experts say that the aircraft may have suddenly lost power “at the most critical phase of flight” after takeoff.

Indian police said the jet struck a hostel that was used by local doctors and photos show part of the plane’s fuselage protruding from the building,

The cause of the crash is unclear. This is the first disaster for the Boeing Dreamliner series, which has never crashed in 14 years of service.

Originally published as Air India plane crash: Victim’s heartbreaking final video revealed before crash