The haunting image of a newlywed Briton with his mother outside the airport has resurfaced in light of recent tragic events, drawing parallels to the devastating Air India Flight 182 bombing in 1985. Lawrence Daniel Christian, 26, posed for what would be his last photograph with his mother before boarding the doomed flight.

On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182, en route from Toronto to London, disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 passengers and crew members. The Boeing 747, named "Emperor Kanishka," was the victim of a bomb planted by Canadian Sikh terrorists, marking it as the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history until the September 11 attacks in 2001. The incident remains the deadliest aviation incident in the history of Air India.

The flight's journey began in Toronto, with scheduled stops in Montreal, London, Delhi, and Bombay. After a stopover in Montreal, where more passengers boarded, the flight continued toward London. Communication was established with the Shannon Air Traffic Control Center before the aircraft vanished from radar screens just minutes later. The explosion, caused by a bomb placed in the cargo hold in Vancouver, left no survivors, with debris scattered across the Irish coast and the North Sea.

The majority of the passengers were Canadians of Indian descent, including a large number of children, some as young as infants. The tragedy resulted in the complete loss of 29 families and orphaned two children whose parents were both on board. The impact was particularly felt in southern Ontario, where many of the victims resided.

In the aftermath, investigations pointed to Sikh extremists associated with the Babbar Khalsa as the masterminds behind the bombing. Inderjit Singh Reyat, a dual British-Canadian national, pleaded guilty in 2003, while Talwinder Singh Parmar, a Canadian Sikh separatist leader, was killed by police in India.

The Canadian government has since implemented various measures to address the tragedy, including establishing memorials across the country to honor the victims and launching initiatives such as the Kanishka Project to research terrorism and counter-terrorism strategies. Ex gratia payments were also provided to the families of the victims as a gesture of solicitude and recognition of the administrative challenges they faced.

The Air India Flight 182 bombing remains a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of terrorism and the importance of vigilance in safeguarding national and airline security.