Jamie and Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek had travelled to India to celebrate their wedding anniversary but tragically died when Air India 171 crashed – Jamie’s brother spoke to the Mirror a year on
The brother of a British man who died when Air India Flight 171 crashed a year ago slammed the investigation into the disaster, saying he thinks the families “won’t get the full truth”.
Nick Meek lost his brother Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, 45, who had been flying back to the UK with his husband Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India. The couple were two of 53 Britons onboard the Gatwick-bound flight, which crashed into a hostel seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on June 12, 2025.
The Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is due to release its final report on the deadly crash, that killed 260 people, on the anniversary but Nick shared his scepticism about the investigation.
He told the Mirror : “The most annoying thing that hurts more than anything.. I don’t think we are going to get the full truth in this full report. I think we are just going to get the washed up version.”
Nick, a caretaker from Birmingham, claimed he was worried the crash will be “blamed on the pilots” after a preliminary report, from July 2025, said the co-pilot asked the captain why he “did the cut-off”, but the other responded that he had not. The initial report from India’s AAIB said both engines lost thrust because the fuel-control switches were moved from “run” to “cut off”.
The brother told the Mirror three days after the crash he remembered telling his solicitor: “They’re going to blame the pilots because they are not here to defend themselves.” Nick also told the Mirror: “Then the report came out.. and straight away they shed light on the pilots with this one line of ‘did you cut the fuel’, ‘no I didn’t cut the fuel’, and that’s all we got really.”
Leading up to the anniversary of his brother’s death, Nick said: “Weird that it has been a year but its really gone quick. I think a lot has happened in the year but we are still at a point where we have gone a whole year, on Friday, and we still don’t have the full answers of what actually happened.”
He slammed how Air India has dealt with him during this year and said he often got “generic responses” whether it was a worker from Tata Group, which owns the airline, reading off what “sounded like a script” or “generic emails” that were supposedly not personalised to the families.
The brother said: “We haven’t really had any communication to be honest.” He added: “A bit frustrating that they could give you or tell you a bit more. They chose to stay silent I think.”
Nick said Jamie and Fiongal were always together but shared that while his brother’s remains were brought back to the UK, his husband’s were not. Last week, Fiongal’s mum told This Morning that she was given the wrong ashes and will fly to India to try and find her son’s remains.
Nick said this “overshadowed plans” the families had for the couple’s ashes to be scattered together, telling the Mirror: “It wasn’t good that one of the mix-ups was Fiongal which really overshadowed a lot of plans because there was plans for their remains, but we have had all that taken away from us and we’ve had to do things separately, which they wouldn’t have wanted.”
He warmly remembered his brother Jamie, saying: “He was quite a loyal person, a good friend and loved life and travel.” Nick added: “He lived his life, he had a good life it just wasn’t long enough.”
Nick also told the Mirror his family and Jamie’s friends have planned to gather on Friday to bury the rest of his brother’s ashes in a plot next to their dad, who died in 2012.
He also called on the British authorities to do more and get involved in the Indian investigation, amid fears from the families. Nick said: “The government probably could have pushed maybe harder, I don’t know if they did I don’t believe they did, to maybe get more of an expert status because, after Indian nationals the second most nationals that died on the plane was British. And, I understand it’s Air India their flagship carrier back in India, I get all that, but I just don’t see how British AAIB didn’t act more.. I just don’t like it.”
Keith Barrett, a Partner at Fieldfisher LLP who are representing a number of the families, said: “As we approach the first anniversary of this traffic incident, my clients await the outcome of the official investigations into the cause of the incident. There is no reason why the families of loved ones who died on 12 June 2025 should be left waiting for an explanation. Surely the cause of the incident is known, and if so, this should be shared with the families.”
A spokesperson for the UK AAIB said: “This was a deeply shocking and tragic accident and our thoughts remain with all those who have been affected or lost loves ones. In accordance with international protocols, release of information on the investigation rests solely with the Indian authorities.
“Our focus is on acting as the conduit for information about the investigation to the UK families when it becomes available from the Indian AAIB. UK AAIB remains engaged with the Indian AAIB but it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to comment on the progress of their investigation. We must give them the time and space to complete their work.”
The Mirror has reached out to Air India, Tata Group and the Indian AAIB for comment.
