“I told them I am the last passenger… but they did not allow me,” she recalls.
Bhoomi Chauhan, a 28-year-old business administration student, says missing her Air India flight to London by 10 minutes felt like a disaster — until she learned the plane had crashed, killing 253 people.
“We got very angry with our driver and left the airport in frustration,” Chauhan told BBC Gujarati. “I was very disappointed… There, I got a call that the plane had gone down.”
Flight AI171, bound for London Gatwick, crashed just 30 seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday. All 241 passengers and 12 crew members died, along with at least eight people on the ground.
Chauhan had traveled 201 km from Ankleshwar and arrived at 12:20 p.m., moments after boarding closed. Despite checking in online and holding seat 36G, staff denied her entry.
“I told them I am the last passenger… please allow me,” she recalled. Now, she says, “This is totally a miracle for me.”
One British national survived. Investigations into the cause are ongoing.