UK pupil missed doomed Air India flight by minutes: ‘It’s a miracle’ | EUROtoday

A pupil has described the “miracle” of lacking the Air India flight that crashed, killing 241 folks on board.

Bhoomi Chauhan, 28, mentioned she was indignant and pissed off after a site visitors jam on the way in which to the airport meant she missed boarding the flight by simply ten minutes.

Ms Chauhan, a enterprise administration pupil who lives in Bristol, mentioned she was turned away by airport workers.

She informed 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 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 mentioned it was “totally a miracle for me”. The Air India flight crashed on Thursday shortly after taking off for London Gatwick, plummeting right into a densely populated residential space close to Ahmedabad airport. More than 50 Britons had been amongst these on board, with one British nationwide, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, believed to be the one survivor.

Ms Chauhan mentioned she arrived on the airport at 12.20pm native time, simply 10 minutes after folks had been scheduled to start out boarding the flight. She informed reporters that she had travelled from Ankleshwar, round 125 miles south of Ahmedabad.

She added that she was “dejected” after lacking the flight and was irritated that she had not began her journey to the airport earlier.

Ms Chauhan added that when she came upon that the flight had crashed, she was “totally numb”, native media reported. Her mom 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 mentioned {that a} black field has now been discovered on the web site of the Air India aircraft crash. The flight information recorder will hopefully make clear why the aircraft crashed lower than 60 seconds after take-off.

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is main the inquiry, helped by groups from the US and UK. Air India has mentioned that there have been 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian on the plane.

Families in India with issues can name Air India on 1800 5691 444. Those exterior India can name the British Foreign Office on 020 7008 5000.