A UK-based student has described her last-minute failure to board the ill-fated Air India Flight AI171 as a life-saving twist of fate.
Bhoomi Chauhan, 28, a business administration student in Bristol, had booked a seat on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing all 253 passengers and crew on board, along with at least eight people on the ground.
Chauhan, who was returning from a holiday in western India, had been traveling from Ankleshwar—about 200 kilometres south of Ahmedabad—but was delayed by traffic and arrived at the airport just 10 minutes too late.
“We were angry with our driver and left the airport upset,” she told BBC Gujarati. “I was already thinking about refunds when I got the call that the plane had crashed.”
She had checked in online and was assigned seat 36G, a fact confirmed by BBC News via her digital boarding pass. But by the time she reached the airport at 12:20 p.m., boarding had closed.
“I pleaded with the airline staff,” she said. “I told them I was only 10 minutes late and could be the last passenger. But they wouldn’t let me on.”
Reflecting on the near-miss, Chauhan said: “At first, I was devastated to miss my flight. I kept thinking, ‘If only I’d left a little earlier.’ Now, I see it as a miracle. Missing that flight saved my life.”