Christian crew members in Air India crash mourned

All but one of 242 passengers onboard died in the crash in Ahmedabad, which also killed at least 29 people on the ground including five medical students.  

Two young Christian crew members were among 270 people who died when a London-bound aircraft crashed in Ahmedabad, in India’s western Gujarat state on 12 June.

Clive Kunder was the first officer, or co-pilot, and Lamnunthem Singson was a member of the cabin crew on the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed minutes after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:39 p.m. on Thursday.

Soon after take-off, the aircraft started losing height and burst into flames before crashing into the complex of the B.J. Medical College, a public medical training institution. All but one of 242 passengers onboard died in the crash, which also killed at least 29 people on the ground including five medical students.  

First officer Kunder belonged to the United Basel Mission’s Christa Kanthi Church Kurla in Mumbai, in western Maharashtra state. The church’s Pastor Sam Muni told The Tablet he was humble and down to earth, mingling with everyone and taking part in church activities.

“I last met Clive on Easter. Little did I know that it would be our last meeting and that fate would take such a turn,” he said.

His parents Clifford and Rekha Kundar are regular members of the church, said Muni, and Rekha had provided his link with the aviation industry having worked as a flight attendant.

They learnt of the disaster – the worst in India for three decades – and their son’s death while they were in Sydney, visiting their daughter Camille.

“Clive’s parents have reached Ahmedabad and I am in constant touch with them, consoling them and coordinating funeral arrangements,” the pastor said, adding that Clive Kunder will be sorely missed not only by his family but also by all members of his church.

Flight attendant Singson belonged to the Kuki-Zo community of Manipur state, which has been blighted by ethnic conflict in recent years. She was the only daughter in her family, who had fled the state capital Imphal after fighting between Kuki-Zo and the Meitei peoples erupted in May 2023. She was renting accommodation in Kangpokpi district, in another part of Manipur.

A devout Christian, Singson had called her widowed mother the night before and prayed with her as she always did while on duty. Her mother said the 26-year old was her family’s sole breadwinner, with two brothers studying and an elder brother in poor health.

Among the many bereaved was Ramesh Bhaliya, whose elder son Vishwaskumar was the only passenger to survive the crash but whose younger son was among the dead.

India’s Catholic bishops expressed deep sorrow at the disaster, offering condolences to the affected families and prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) asked the faithful to join them in prayer for the victims, their families and the injured.

Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi led a candle-lit prayer service in memory of the victims of the crash at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on 14 June.

In Gujarat, the number of dead forced Air India officials to approach Vadodara’s Centenary Methodist Church to provide coffins for the bodies recovered from the crash site. Most communities in India do not use coffins to bury their dead, meaning only local Christians had a sufficient number available.

At least 270 bodies have been recovered from the site of the plane crash, according to Dhaval Gameti, president of the Junior Doctors Association at B.J. Medical College.

A total of 99 crash victims have been identified so far through DNA matching. Of these, the bodies of 64 victims, including that of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, have been delivered to their respective families in the coffins provided, civil superintendent Dr Rakesh Joshi reported.

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