A British woman narrowly missed boarding the doomed Air India flight by just 10 minutes because she was stuck in traffic on the way to the airport in what she described as “totally a miracle.”
Bhoomi Chauhan, 28, traveled about 125 miles to India’s Ahmedabad Airport to get to seat 36G on Flight AI171 to London Gatwick Airport on Thursday — but her taxi got stuck in city traffic, causing her to arrive at 12:20 p.m., just 10 minutes after the boarding process began, she told the BBC Friday.
Even though she had completed check-in online, the individual from Bristol was denied boarding by airline personnel and consequently prohibited from occupying their assigned seat on the Boeing 787. The aircraft tragically crashed into a residential area shortly following takeoff, resulting in the deaths of all 241 passengers aboard as well as additional fatalities on the ground.
“This is totally a miracle for me,” Chauhan, an administrative studies student who was vacationing in India, told the outlet.
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She remembered feeling “outraged” and “disheartened” following her missed flight after journeying from Ankleshwar.
“We got very angry with our driver and left the airport in frustration,” Chauhan said.
I felt extremely let down. After missing my flight, I became disheartened. The only thought on my mind was, ‘If I had left a bit earlier, I would have made it onto the plane.’
“We exited the airport and stopped somewhere to have some tea. After a brief period, before departing… we discussed with the travel agent how to obtain a refund for our tickets,” she explained.
There, I received the news that the aircraft had crashed.
The flight AI171 departed from Ahmedabad Airport at the designated time on Thursday afternoon according to the local schedule.
but crashed about 30 seconds into the flight
after struggling to gain altitude.
The Boeing aircraft headed for London crashed into a residential area in the western Indian city with approximately 5 million inhabitants.
The fateful flight produced another miracle with a
lone survivor
Emerging from the debris of the crashed plane.
British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, aged 40, managed to get out from under the debris of the catastrophic accident.
climbing out through an exit doorway
As one of his siblings lay lifeless just a short distance away.
Many more were slain and hurt on the earth below.
Authorities stated that out of the 241 people aboard the Air India flight, there were 217 adults and 11 children — comprising 169 Indians, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese individuals, and one Canadian citizen, as reported by Air India.
The reason for the accident is presently being looked into.
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