A student has described the “miracle” of missing the Air India flight that crashed, killing 241 people on board.
Bhoomi Chauhan, 28, said she was angry and frustrated after a traffic jam on the way to the airport meant she missed boarding the flight by just ten minutes.
Ms Chauhan, a business administration student who lives in Bristol, said she was turned away by airport staff.
She told the BBC: “We got very angry with our driver and left the airport in frustration. I was very disappointed. 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. There, I got a call that the plane had gone down”.
She said it was “totally a miracle for me”. The Air India flight crashed on Thursday shortly after taking off for London Gatwick, plummeting into a densely populated residential area near Ahmedabad airport. More than 50 Britons were among those on board, with one British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is believed to be the only survivor.
Ms Chauhan said she arrived at the airport at 12:20pm local time, just ten minutes after people were scheduled to start boarding the flight. She told reporters that she had travelled from Ankleshwar – around 125 miles south of Ahmedabad.
She added that she was “dejected” after missing the flight and was annoyed that she had not started her journey to the airport earlier.
Ms Chauhan added that when she found out that the flight had crashed, she was “totally numb”, local media reported. Her mother reportedly attributed Ms Chauhan’s survival to the blessings of the Mother Goddess, telling reporters: “We thank Mother Goddess for protecting my daughter.”
India’s civil aviation minister has said that a black box has now been found at the site of the Air India plane crash. The flight data recorder will hopefully shed light on why the plane crashed less than 60 seconds after take-off.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the inquiry, helped by teams from the US and UK. Air India has said that there were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian on the aircraft.
Families in India with concerns can call Air India on 1800 5691 444. Those outside India can call the British Foreign Office on 020 7008 5000.
