Banaskantha, Gujarat: Eight months after the devastating Ahmedabad plane crash, the pain of loss has returned for grieving families as personal belongings of the victims are finally being handed back. For one father, the return of these items reopened wounds that had never truly healed.
India’s national carrier Air India has begun returning recovered belongings of passengers who lost their lives in the crash. Among them is Savdanbhai Chaudhary of Thavar village in Dhanera, Banaskantha district, who recently received half-burnt wedding photographs and official documents belonging to his son and daughter-in-law.
The young couple had been traveling to London to begin a new chapter of their married life when the tragic accident occurred on June 12, 2025. Married for just six months, they were full of hope and plans for the future. The crash claimed their lives along with nearly 260 others, including the pilot.
Speaking through tears, Savdanbhai recalled the day they dropped the couple at the airport. His daughter-in-law was traveling abroad for the first time, excited yet nervous about the journey. Hours later, a phone call from the UK asking for ticket details triggered fear—soon confirmed by news alerts reporting that the London-bound flight had crashed.
The family rushed back to Ahmedabad and was directed to Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, where they learned that there were no survivors. Identification of the couple was made through partially burnt documents and remnants of their wedding album found at the crash site.
Now, months later, those same charred memories have returned home. Savdanbhai said he often sits silently, staring at the damaged photographs of his son Kamlesh and daughter-in-law Dhapuben. “They loved us deeply. My daughter-in-law was like my own daughter. Even today, sleep escapes me when I think of them. Every morning, it feels like my son is standing right in front of me,” he said.
For the parents, all that remains are an Aadhaar card, a voter ID, and a half-burnt wedding album—fragile reminders of lives cut tragically short. The sudden disaster shattered the family and turned June 12 into a day they describe as the darkest chapter of their lives.
As families across Gujarat relive their grief with the return of these belongings, the Ahmedabad plane crash remains a haunting reminder of how, even months later, loss can resurface with overwhelming force.