Wrong remains from Air India crash ‘adds to trauma’, says family

A woman whose brother died in the Air India crash and then received the wrong body says it has “added trauma” to her family.

Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, and his husband Jamie, 45, were among the 242 people on board the flight which crashed on 12 June soon after taking off for London Gatwick from Ahmedabad.

His sister Arwen Greenlaw told BBC Newsnight her family was seeking dignity and closure as well as accountability for those who mislabelled her brother’s remains.

The Foreign Office said it continues to support families affected by the Air India crash with “dedicated caseworkers”, adding that the “formal identification of bodies is a matter for the Indian authorities”.

Ms Greenlaw, from Cambridge, told the BBC she wanted “dignity” for her brother and “closure for the family”.

“If that is not possible – because the worst case scenario is that he has been cremated as somebody else – then we need to know that in order to move on,” she added.

“Somebody mislabelled remains – that has added trauma.”

She said it appeared there was a “lack of forensic protocols” at the scene of the crash, and the site was “not closed for 48 hours”.

“It just can’t happen again,” she said.

“I think the whole family were and still are in complete disbelief because it is things that happen on the news and to other people. It was shocking and is confusing.”

There were 230 passengers and 12 crew on the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian.

Many people living in a residential neighbourhood near Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport where the jet came down were also killed, taking the number of confirmed casualties to at least 270. This included a number of medical students staying in the area.

A preliminary investigative 15-page report published last month said fuel to the engines of the plane cut off just seconds after take-off.

Circumstances around how or why that happened remain unclear. The report said in recovered cockpit voice recordings, one of the pilots can be heard asking “why did you cut off?” – to which the other pilot replied he “did not do so”.

A final report into the crash is expected in 12 months.

In the days after the fatal crash, Ms Greenlaw said their mother flew out to India as part of the formal identification process.

“By her own words it was a chaotic scene,” Ms Greenlaw recalled. “She went straight to the hospital to give a blood sample, we were told it would be up to 72 hours to get a positive identification – and that was about right.

“She returned from India with what she thought were her son’s remains. It has been the equivalent of losing him twice.

“Mum had seen the situation there, smelt the smells, seen the sights, seen the crash site. I think for her that made it more real to be able to see that.”

Ms Greenlaw explained when the casket was returned it was tested and found to be “the remains of two different people”.

As a result, a coroner in London decided to carry out further tests and the family were able to get some DNA from Fiongal’s headphones that proved the remains were not his.

“I would say we go up and down with feelings,” Ms Greenlaw said when asked how the family are feeling.

“We are not naïve, we understand it must have been a horrendous situation and my heart goes out to those who did the clear up – but we know Finn’s remains were found.

“At that point you would expect the remains to come home. If he had not been matched we could get our heads around that.”

Mr Greenlaw-Meeks founded The Wellness Foundry in Ramsgate, in Kent, in 2018 with his husband joining as a managing director five years later.

They had also been due to be hosting workshops at Ramsgate Pride event in June.

Moments before boarding the Air India flight, the pair posted a video to social media on their last night in the country, where Mr Greenlaw-Meeks reflected on a “magical experience”.

“They were amazing,” Ms Greenlaw said.

“Two parts of the one soul. They lived together, they married and they died together. They were two halves of one.”

The Foreign Office told the BBC it is continuing to liaise with the Gujarati government and the Indian government on behalf of the Inner West London Senior Coroner to support the coronial process.

“We understand that this is an extremely distressing time for the families, and our thoughts remain with them,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

“Foreign Office staff continue to support the families and loved ones in line with our consular remit.

“We have allocated dedicated caseworkers to each family who wish to have one.”

India’s foreign ministry previously said: “In the wake of the tragic crash, the concerned authorities had carried out identification of victims as per established protocols and technical requirements.

“All mortal remains were handled with utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased.

“We are continuing to work with the UK authorities on addressing any concerns related to this issue.”