Bhoomi Chauhan thought her day couldn’t get worse when she arrived at the airport just ten minutes too late to board her flight. Little did she know, that delay would save her life.
The 28-year-old university student was traveling from Ahmedabad to London on Air India Flight 171 when heavy traffic made her miss check-in by a narrow margin. Frustrated and disappointed, she pleaded with airline staff to let her on the plane, but they refused. “I was so angry at the driver and myself,” she recalled. “All I could think was, ‘If only we’d left earlier.'”
What seemed like a travel mishap turned into a miracle when news broke that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had crashed minutes after takeoff, killing all 241 passengers and 12 crew members, along with several people on the ground. Chauhan, who had stopped for tea nearby, learned about the disaster from her travel agent. “It was surreal,” she said. “This wasn’t just luck—it was a second chance.”
Meanwhile, one passenger, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, miraculously survived the crash. Seated in row 11A near the emergency exit, he regained consciousness amid the wreckage and managed to walk away, though injured. His brother, Ajay, who was also on the flight, remains missing.
For Chauhan, the near-miss has left her shaken but grateful. “I could have been on that plane,” she said. “Now, every minute feels like a gift.”