ABOUT
Flight 182
Rippin Sindher
IT START WITH
A Story the World Forgot
A Family’s Truth, a Nation’s Grief…
W
hen the bombing of Air India Flight 182 occurred on June 23, 1985, it became the deadliest act of aviation terrorism in the world before 9/11 and the worst mass-casualty attack in Canadian history. Yet for decades, it remained a tragedy that received far too little public recognition. FLIGHT 182 was created to bring human focus back to an event often remembered only through headlines, statistics, and investigations.
Writer-director Rippin Sindher approaches this story through an intimate lens. Instead of restaging the bombing itself, the film centers on a Punjabi Sikh family whose ordinary day becomes shadowed by escalating threats from a separatist group targeting Air India flights. As Jeet prepares to fly home to India to see his dying mother, fear and responsibility collide inside a small household thousands of miles away from the geopolitical tensions that set this tragedy in motion.
The short unfolds through quiet domestic moments—packing luggage, preparing meals, navigating unspoken worries—echoing the lived reality of families who later learned their loved ones had boarded Flight 182 that morning. By grounding the narrative in personal experience, the film honors the 329 passengers and crew who lost their lives, and the generations of relatives who still carry the weight of that day.
FLIGHT 182 draws from verified historical record, survivor testimonies, and community memory. Rippin’s work reflects her ongoing commitment to storytelling that amplifies marginalized histories and challenges how national tragedies are remembered. The film’s success—including its win at the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge and recognition at festivals such as ImagineThis, Tasveer, and iSAFF—continues the effort to give this story the global visibility it deserves.
WE HOLD THESE MOMENTS
In Honor, In Memory, In Love.
STAY BRAVE. STAY CONNECTED.
The legacy of Air India Flight 182 is not just a historical event—it is a living story carried by families across Canada, India, Ireland, and beyond. Many have spoken publicly about the grief, silence, and lack of national acknowledgment that followed the tragedy. For them, remembrance is not a ceremony—it is a lifelong act of love, resilience, and truth.
FLIGHT 182 was made to honor that legacy. The film invites audiences to confront how global violence can enter the quietest corners of daily life, and how ordinary people show extraordinary courage in moments of uncertainty. Through this story, Rippin Sindher pays tribute to those who were lost, those who survived them, and those who continue to demand that history never look away again.
