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A MUM whose son died in the Air India plane crash has been left horrified after authorities sent the wrong body back to the UK.
Amanda Donaghey, 66, was left heartbroken and appalled after DNA evidence proved Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek’s casket actually belonged to another victim.
Fiongal, 39, had been to India celebrating his wedding anniversary with husband, Jamie, 45.
The pair were all set to fly home to Britain on the doomed Flight AI171 when disaster struck just a minute into the journey.
Moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport, the pilots lost altitude as the plane came crashing towards the ground.
Footage captured the moment it smashed into a medical college hostel.
A total of 241 passengers and crew plus 19 people on the ground were all killed in the tragedy – including 52 Brits like Fiongal and Jamie.
Amanda initially believed the two men had caught a flight home two days earlier until she received an emotional phone call from the dad of Fiongal.
A brave Amanda then flew out to India shortly after being told both men were on the plane when it crashed.
She went to look for her son or, in the worse case scenario, bring his remains home.
She told The Sunday Times: “Visiting the site and seeing it was something I felt like I had to do. I wanted to understand what had happened.
“I recall seeing all the charred trees. They were blackened by fire. Yet, amazingly, there were still birds and squirrels living in those trees. I found that deeply moving.”
“It was like a bomb site. You would think it was from a war scene, but there were still these small birds twittering.”
Hours after the crash, it was confirmed that only one person had survived the accident.
Despite the tragedy, Amanda remained determined to help find Fiongal’s remains.
She gave blood to help find a DNA match before being informed officials had found the body and sent it back to the UK.
Jamie had already been identified by this point with both men’s families hoping to lay them to rest next to each other.
Amanda rushed back to the UK hoping to say her final goodbyes after being assured that Fiongal was in the casket.
The family had started to plan Fiongal’s funeral when they received a gut-wrenching phone call from the police.
A British coroner had completed a second, more thorough DNA test on the remains which were inside the casket.
Fiongal’s tragic final video
A HEARTBREAKING final video posted by Fiongal came just hours before their tragic death in the Air India crash.
In the chilling final clip filmed at Ahmedabad airport, Fiongal and Jamie, dressed in floral shirts and visibly happy, reflect on their trip.
Fiongal says: “We are at the airport just boarding. Goodbye India. Ten-hour flight back to England. What was your biggest takeaway Jamie?”
Jamie responds: “I don’t know,” prompting Fiongal’s laughter and a teasing, “Thanks for your contribution.”
Fiongal jokes that his main lesson was “don’t lose your patience with your partner,” to which Jamie smiles and replies, “You snapped at me at the airport for having chai.”
Passengers mill in the background as Fiongal adds: “I’m going back to Britain happily, happily calm.”
Earlier social media posts from the couple showed their experiences in Ahmedabad, including a seven-hour car journey to a stunning hotel.
In one clip, Fiongal lies on a large bed beside a giant swing, describing the hotel as “beautiful” and saying he felt “very, very happy.”
Their time in India was captured in a series of posts showing henna tattoos, shopping for fabrics and gifts, and riding in a tuk-tuk through busy streets.
On their final night, Fiongal reflected: “So, it’s our last night in India and we’ve had a magical experience. Some mind-blowing things have happened.
“We are going to put all this together and create a vlog. It’s my first ever vlog about the whole trip and we want to share it.”
Jamie added: “We have been on quite a journey and then spending our last night here in this beautiful hotel, it’s really been a great way to round off the trip.”
They did not belong to Fiongal.
“It was heartbreaking,” Amanda said.
“We don’t know what poor person is in that casket. This is an appalling thing to have happened.”
Amanda’s experience is tragically just one of many parents struggling to find closure after the crash due to a mix up of many caskets.
NHS microbiologist Shobhana Patel, 71, and her husband Ashok, 74, both died in the crash.
The couple, from Orpington, Kent, were repatriated in different coffins but DNA tests in Britain found other body parts along with Shobhana’s.
One heartbroken family was even forced to cancel funeral plans due to the mix-up of bodies, the Mail Online reported.
And in another harrowing mistake, “commingled” human remains – consisting of body parts of more than one victim – were reportedly packed into a casket before being shipped to the UK.
It is thought that only Indian authorities carried out DNA tests on victims with no input from any international agency.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said: “All remains were handled with professionalism.”
Brit families previously slammed the chaotic ground operation following the horror smash on June 12.
One relative reportedly blasted the “lack of transparency and oversight in the identification and handling of remains”.
