A heartbroken mother has shared a harrowing update one year after her son was killed in the Air India plane crash that left 241 people dead. Amanda Donaghey, a British mother, said she now plans to travel to India to seek answers after the tragedy in June last year.
Struggling to cope with the sudden loss of her son, Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, she faced another devastating blow when she discovered that the casket she received did not contain his remains. "There was no Fiongal in the casket," she told Britain's This Morning in an interview aired on Monday.
"It was some poor other person. I feel very personally uncomfortable with the fact that I went there to get him and I failed. Finding out that it wasn't him was heartbreaking," she said.
Wrong Remains and Incineration Claims
Mrs Donaghey claimed that in the aftermath of the crash, "remains were taken and incinerated for public health reasons." In a separate interview with the BBC last year, Fiongal's sister explained that DNA found in her brother's headphones proved the remains inside the casket did not belong to him.
Fiongal was returning home to the UK after celebrating his wedding anniversary with his husband Jamie when their plane crashed minutes after takeoff on June 12, 2025. The aircraft was departing from Ahmedabad, India, bound for London Gatwick.
Everyone on board died except one person who miraculously survived, while 19 others on the ground were also killed on impact. A year later, Fiongal's family still does not have his remains, and his mother plans to travel to India again for answers.
Family Seeks Government Help
"The family has been to everybody, from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy," Mrs Donaghey told This Morning. "A complete impotence has occurred."
She recalled that when she first heard about the crash, she assumed her loved ones were safe. "I thought they were already home. I was out in the morning and heard there had been a crash, and wasn't overly concerned because I thought they'd come home a couple of days earlier. I got in, and then the phone rang."
Describing her reaction, she said, "I went straight into screaming, actually. Just screamed and screamed. When that scream stopped, I just had to go there. I felt a very strong need to go and bring him home."
DNA Mismatch and Investigation
She arrived in India just days later and provided a blood sample for identification. After being told of a positive match, she was allowed to return to the UK with what she believed were her son's partial remains. However, after arriving home with a casket bearing her son's name and paperwork, the local coroner called to confirm the remains were not Fiongal.
Asked how this could happen after she provided a DNA sample, she claimed that "there was no facility there to properly conserve the bodies, and there was a sanitary problem. As I understand it, remains were taken and incinerated for public health reasons."
Crash Cause Still Unknown
The official cause of the Air India crash has not yet been released. However, a preliminary report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau last year stated that fuel to the aircraft's engines was cut off shortly before the crash. News.com.au has contacted India's Ministry of External Affairs for comment.
