This week we are revisiting some of our favourite episodes from 2024. This episode was first broadcast on 9 September.
In 2001, Mohammed Ayaz climbed into the wheel bay of a British Airways Boeing 777 heading from Bahrain to London Heathrow. His body fell from the plane as it descended, and was discovered in a car park in Richmond.
After the police identified him, the Guardian’s Esther Addley tracked down his family to a rural village in northern Pakistan. Mohammed’s family told Esther that he had tried to get to the UK legally, but had not been successful. She wrote about the story in an article titled The man who fell to earth.
Then, 23 years later, Esther received a message from one of Mohammed’s brothers.
‘Hello ma’am,” it read. “My name is Khalil Ullah. I’m a younger brother of Muhammad Ayaz, you wrote about his life when he fell to earth from a British Airways 777 and died. I’m here in England for my higher studies. I just want to meet you and thank you that you wrote very well about his life. I want to see the place where he fell. Eagerly waiting for your kind response. Thank you. Regards, Khalil.’
In this episode, Esther tells Helen Pidd about their visit to the site in Richmond where Mohammed was found.
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