A grieving mother whose son died in the Air India plane disaster travelled thousands of miles to collect his remains – only to be sent home with the wrong body.
Amanda Donaghey lost her son Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, and his husband, Jamie, 45, when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick crashed just seconds after takeoff on June 12 – claiming the lives of 260 people.
The couple had been returning to Britain after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India when the plane unexpectedly crashed, killing all but one passenger onboard.
The aircraft had turned into a huge fireball on impact but Ms Donaghey, 66, was determined to bring back her son’s remains, handing over a sample of her blood in a bid to find matching DNA, The Sunday Times reports.
Things did not look promising, however, and three days came and went without a word from officials handling the bodies.
In the meantime, Jamie’s remains were identified and sent home to the UK.
But just as the mother was losing hope, they got back to her with news that there had been a ‘match’ for Fiongal.
Ms Donaghey was relieved – the discovery meant she could bring her son’s remains back and lay them next to his husband’s.
Amanda Donaghey lost her son Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek and his husband, Jamie, pictured, in the Air India disaster
The mother, pictured right with son Fiongal, travelled thousands of miles to collect his remains – only to be sent home with the wrong body
The Air India Dreamliner crashed just minutes after taking off on June 13
The family set about organising funerals for the two men with the mother assured on her return to the UK that Fiongal’s remains were in the casket.
Then, a heartbreaking development. The British coroner had conducted another DNA test which found that the remains in her son’s coffin were not his after all.
Ms Donaghey said that the identity of the remains is still unknown, describing the confusion as ‘appalling’.
Fiongal studied at the Royal College of Art and went on to work as a fashion designer, fronting design houses in London and Asia.
He then got into sprituality, yoga and reiki and established the Wellness Foundry, dedicated to such topics, in 2018.
The business founder married Jamie in 2022 and had taken to social media to describe their ‘magical experience’ in India the night before they caught the fateful flight.
They even posted a short clip from the airport departure lounge just hours ahead of the journey back, which would see them sit in seats 22A and 22B, bidding farewell to the country.
His mother was not aware he was on the plane, believing Fiongal to have flown back to the UK two days prior.
The couple had been returning to Britain after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India when the plane unexpectedly crashed, killing all but one passenger onboard
A firefighter stands next to the crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, in Ahmedabad
After taking a ride on her horse, she got a phone call from Fiongal’s father who told her the pair had been travelling back on the aircraft.
Two days later, Ms Donaghey took a tricky trip to India from her home in the south of France, where she had moved 22 years ago.
She was greeted by a British High Commission crisis management team on her arrival in Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Despite being exhausted, the mother headed straight to the nearby Civil Hospital to take a DNA test in a converted classroom.
Ms Donaghey then paid a visit BJ Medical College hostel, which had been hit by the Air India plane, but was not allowed to go through the final cordon as the aircraft’s tail was still lodged in a building there.
‘It was like a bomb site,’ she said. ‘You would think it was from a war scene, but there were still these small birds twittering.’
Also out there was Miten Patel who was determined to bring home his parents Ashok and Shobhana, who had been married since the 70s.
The financial advisor and retired microbiologist had been in the country for a yatra, a religious visit geared towards helping people to find peace when they die.
Out there at the same time as Ms Donaghey was Miten Patel who was determined to bring home his parents
Ashok and Shobhana, pictured, had been married since the 70s and were in the country for a yatra, a religious visit geared towards helping people to find peace when they die
Mr Patel was handed several of his parents’ items including Ashok’s shirt and Shobhana’s swan necklace.
After successfully retrieving the couple’s remains, he later discovered ‘other remains’ in the casket said to contain his mother’s body.
He was finally able to bury her last week, describing the successful end to the process as a ‘miracle’.
Ms Donaghey has been going through a similar ordeal, but one that remains unresolved.
After initially being informed of the ‘match’ on June 20, she spoke with the British High Commission and hospital representatives, as well as an Avon and Somerset Police officer, acting as a disaster victim investigator.
She said: ‘I was told they had found part of Fiongal but not all of him. I said I wanted to stay until they had finished looking.’
But on her return to the crash site, Ms Donaghey was handed the devastating news that there was nothing left to be found in the wreckage.
Things took an even more concerning turn when she was told about Shobhana’s case, which had seen various remains get mixed up.
The tailpiece of Air India flight AI171 after it crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad
Hoorifying footage showed the moment the plane crashed, with a massive fireball erupting in the horizon
On June 28, she headed back to Gatwick on an Air India flight in a bid to get Fiongal’s remains to a British hospital with better preserving standards than those in India.
They were handed over to Dr Fiona Wilcox, senior coroner for Inner West London, and in the meantime Ms Donaghey was given support by her sister in Cambridgeshire, as well as police family liaison officers.
Six days after her return, the mother was handed the heart-wrenching news that the remains in her son’s coffin were not his at all.
At a meeting attended by Fiongal’s father, sister and brother, family liaison officers said: ‘We don’t have Fiongal. We have carried out the DNA tests and we do not have Fiongal.’
Amanda said: ‘I had my doubts but to be told that was heartbreaking.’
Despite realising that their ambition to bury Fiongal and Jamie alongside one another was now impossible, Ms Donaghey and her family have not given up on trying to locate his remains, ringing the Foreign Office each day looking for answers.
Some 53 of the 242 people on the ill-fated flight were British but, as many were of Indian heritage and thus buried in the country of the crash, just 12 sets of remains were delivered back to the UK.
The remaining 10 were all matches, but it is still not known for sure whether the identities of the bodies that stayed in India are correct.
Firefighters work at the site of the crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
People look at the debris of an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad of India’s Gujarat state
James Healy-Pratt, an international aviation lawyer and partner with Keystone Law, is representing 20 bereaved families and confirmed they were in contact with Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister’s office and Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
A government spokesperson said: ‘We understand that this is an extremely distressing time for the families, and our thoughts remain with them. Formal identification of bodies is a matter for the Indian authorities.
‘We continue to liaise with the government of Gujarat and the government of India on behalf of the Inner West London senior coroner to support the coronial process.’
