By Kazeem Ugbodaga
A woman who narrowly missed boarding a doomed Air India flight has recounted her chilling brush with death, expressing both shock and gratitude after learning that the aircraft had crashed shortly before takeoff.
Bhoomi Chauhan, who arrived at the airport just 10 minutes after the check-in gate closed, was denied boarding due to her late arrival.
The flight, which was departing from Ahmedabad on Thursday, crashed shortly after it began its takeoff sequence with 241 passengers pronounced dead with only one survivor.
“We arrived at the check-in gate 10 minutes late, but they didn’t allow me, and I returned,” Chauhan told reporters.
“They said that it would delay the flight further. I was late because of traffic in the Ahmedabad city area,” she added.
Soon after returning home, Chauhan received the devastating news.
“I came to know that the flight had crashed, and I was totally numb. I thank my mother Goddess that I am safe, but the incident is absolutely terrifying,” she said, her voice trembling.
Details surrounding the cause of the crash are still under investigation, but authorities confirmed that the aircraft encountered a critical technical failure shortly before takeoff.
