When Precita D’Souza opened Instagram on June 12 and saw a post about an Air India crash, her first thought was disbelief: “Why are they sharing something that happened 15 years ago?” Ten minutes later, the truth hit her—another Air India plane had crashed, this time a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Ahmedabad with 242 people on board. Tears welled up as memories of her father’s death in the 2010 Mangaluru crash flooded back.

Her father, Ignatius D’Souza, a chef, was one of 158 killed when Flight IX-812 from Dubai overshot the Mangaluru runway and burst into flames. Precita hasn’t flown Air India since. “It was a bad day for my father. We don’t blame anyone. But what hurts is the promise of compensation that still hasn’t been fulfilled,” she said. Her family’s case is still pending in the Bangalore High Court.

She’s not alone. Many 2010 crash victims’ families are still waiting for full compensation from the government.

Abdur Rahman Edakkuni, who survived the 2020 Kozhikode crash, says solidarity is the only way forward. As chairperson of the Karippur Air Crash Action Forum, he warns Ahmedabad crash victims to be wary. “We had to fight relentlessly, even though the airline received over ₹700 crore in insurance, less than half reached survivors,” he alleged.

Air India’s legal team, he claimed, responded coldly, even telling a survivor, “I’m not responsible for that.” Despite the trauma, Edakkuni and others raised ₹50 lakh to build a Primary Health Centre near the Kozhikode airport, to ensure others don’t suffer due to poor medical infrastructure.

On August 7, the PHC will be inaugurated—a tribute to the lives lost, and the spirit of those left behind.

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