Air India Crash: UK-based Mother Who Didn’t Want to Go to India Dies While Returning Home to Son

• UK-based woman Abdhiben Patel dies in Air India crash shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025
• The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed to London with 242 on board before it crashed near the airport
• She was returning to the UK after caring for her sick mother in India and was eager to reunite with her son

A United Kingdom-based woman, Abdhiben Patel, who had gone to India to take care of her sick mother, didn’t want to go on the trip.

She was reluctant to leave her son in the UK and was relieved to return home to see him, but her life was cut short by the Air India plane crash.

The aircraft crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad, a western city in India, on June 12, 2025.

The plane was headed for London’s Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom with 242 people on board.

As reported by the Independent, Abdhiben worked at a salon known as the Zone Beauty Studio in Northampton, London.

Abdhiben’s close friend and colleague at the salon, Atif Karim, shared how the woman felt about the trip.

Woman dies in crash while returning home

Atif said that the trip to India was the first time Abdhiben would be away from her son, and that made her reluctant about going.

He said:

“She didn’t want to go. She told me, ‘I just don’t like being away from him’. It was her first time leaving him, and she was very nervous."

Her colleague added:

“She kept saying how shy and reserved he is, how attached they were. She was totally devoted to him – her entire world revolved around him.”

Atif added that Abdhiben only agreed to proceed on her journey out of a sense of duty for her ailing mother.

She spent two weeks with her mother in India and was returning to her son when the unfortunate Air India crash happened.

Colleague shares last conversation with late woman

Atif said that Abdhiben had planned on resuming work on Saturday after her return to the UK.

He shared their last conversation, which was work-related, as the woman had promised to sort out some unfinished work.

Atif said:

“She said, ‘Do you want me to finish that?’ and later, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort it,’” he said. “That was the last I heard.”

Abdhiben, an Indian woman, moved to the UK in 2012 and had been working at the salon since 2016.

Speaking about her work at the salon, Atif said:

“She was the most diligent, reliable worker I’ve ever had. But more than that, she was our friend. She was bubbly, kind, always smiling – she had a way of putting people at ease and always took a genuine interest in their lives.”

Legit.ng had reported that the owners of Air India had revealed the amount they would pay to families of victims who lost their lives in the crash.

15-year-old boy killed by Air India crash

In a related story on Legit.ng, a 15-year-old boy, Akash Patni, who was resting near his family's tea stall, was tragically among those killed in the crash that shook Ahmedabad in India.

When the crash happened, the boy’s mother, Sita, who was unaware that her son was sleeping nearby, managed to run.

Akash’s mother, Sita, survived with injuries and is in the ICU, unaware that her son died just metres away.

Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng