A British woman narrowly missed boarding the ill-fated Air India flight after getting stuck in traffic on her way to the airport, missing the plane by just 10 minutes, in what she described as "totally a miracle." She now believes it was God's wished that she missed the flight to live today.
Bhoomi Chauhan, 28, made a roughly 125-mile journey to Ahmedabad Airport in India to catch her seat, 36G, on Flight AI171 bound for London Gatwick on Thursday. However, her taxi got stuck in the heavy city traffic, and she reached the airport at 12:20 p.m.—just 10 minutes after boarding had started—she told the BBC on Friday.
Miraculously Saved
Although she had checked in online, the Bristol native was denied boarding by airline staff and wasn't allowed to take her seat on the Boeing 787. Chauhan could take the flight but lived to tell her story.
The doomed Air India Flight 171 flight crashed into a residential area shortly after takeoff, killing all 241 passengers on board as well as several people on the ground. "This is totally a miracle for me," Chauhan, an administrative studies student who was vacationing in India, told the outlet.
She recalled feeling "dejected" and "angry" after missing the flight following her journey from Ankleshwar.
"We got very angry with our driver and left the airport in frustration," Chauhan said.
"I was very disappointed. When I missed the flight, I was dejected. Only thing that I had in mind was, 'If I had started a little early, I would have boarded the plane.'"
"We left the airport and stood at a place to drink tea and after a while, before leaving ... we were talking to the travel agent about how to get a refund for the ticket," she said.
"There, I got the call that the plane had gone down."
Thanking Her Fate
Flight AI171 took off from Ahmedabad Airport as planned on Thursday afternoon local time but went down about 30 seconds after takeoff, failing to gain proper altitude. The Boeing aircraft, headed for London, crashed into a residential area in the western Indian city, which has a population of around 5 million.
Amid the tragedy, a remarkable moment emerged—a single survivor managed to walk away from the wreckage.
British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, survived the horrific crash by crawling through an emergency exit, even as one of his brothers lay lifeless just a few feet from him.
Many others on the ground also lost their lives or sustained serious injuries.
According to Air India, the 241 passengers who were killed in the crash included 217 adults and 11 children. Among them were 169 Indian citizens, 53 British nationals, seven from Portugal, and one Canadian.
Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the disaster.
