A 28-year-old woman, Bhoomi Chauhan, has shared her harrowing account of how a delay caused by traffic spared her life, as she narrowly missed boarding Air India Flight AI171 — the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that tragically crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing all 253 people onboard and at least eight more on the ground.
Chauhan, a business administration student based in Bristol, United Kingdom, had been visiting her family in western India. She was scheduled to return to the UK aboard the ill-fated London-bound flight.
According to Chauhan, her journey from Ankleshwar — located approximately 201 kilometers (125 miles) south of Ahmedabad — was significantly delayed by traffic congestion. As a result, she arrived at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 12:20 p.m., just 10 minutes after the scheduled boarding time. Airline staff reportedly denied her entry onto the flight.
“We got very angry with our driver and left the airport in frustration. I was very disappointed… but then, while speaking to the travel agent about getting a refund, I got a call that the plane had gone down,” Chauhan told BBC’s Gujarati service.
Her digital boarding pass, reviewed by BBC News, confirmed she had completed online check-in and had been assigned seat 36G in economy class. The gravity of her close call has been described as nothing short of miraculous.
Chauhan’s account adds a deeply personal dimension to a tragedy that has claimed hundreds of lives and sent shockwaves through India and beyond. Rescue efforts remain underway, with investigations being launched into the cause of the crash.
“I requested airline staff to allow me inside as I was only 10 minutes late. I told them that I am the last passenger and so please allow me to board the plane, but they did not allow me,” she recalled.
She added: “When I missed the flight, I was dejected. The only thing in my mind was, ‘If I had started a little earlier, I would have boarded the plane.’ This is totally a miracle for me.”