Air India crash leads to surge in demand for ‘lucky' seat 11A after miraculous survival
Demand for 'lucky' seat 11A has spiked following the lone survivor's miraculous escape in the fatal Air India crash – despite aviation experts warning that the specific seat number does not offer any proven safety advantage.
Advertisement
Travel agents have reported a sharp surge in passenger inquiries about seat 11A, where Viswash Kumar Ramesh was sitting when the London-bound aircraft crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off.
The 40-year-old British national was the lone survivor among the 242 passengers and crew members on board. On Wednesday, he was discharged from Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, six days after the disaster that killed his brother.
Ramesh's unlikely escape is now reshaping how travellers choose their seats, according to The Times of India newspaper.
When he flies to the United States from New Delhi this week, businessman Jitender Singh Bagga asked to be seated next to an emergency exit.
Advertisement
'It has to be a seat next to the emergency exit,' he said. 'I am willing to fork out any extra amount for it. If seat 11A is next to the emergency door of the British Airways flight I intend to take … I want to be in it.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
How extreme heat proved Chinese military officer's undoing in classic novel
After my niece's wedding in London, I took several days off to explore the city, mostly on foot. Advertisement It was summer, but the temperature was comfortable. I was a flâneur during those few lovely days, sauntering around town and enjoying the fascinating sights and sounds of London. While my home city of Singapore is as pedestrian-friendly as London , with sympathetically preserved historical buildings and precincts, interesting contemporary architecture, and even a Unesco World Heritage site (the beautiful Singapore Botanic Gardens ), the extreme heat always makes me think twice about venturing outdoors there. There must be a flaw in the nerve receptors on my skin, because prolonged exposure to the tropical sun makes me physically ill, even when I have spent most of my life in a city where it is sweltering pretty much all the time. Singapore is pedestrian-friendly like London, but the Southeast Asian city is much hotter. Extreme summer heat is used as a plot device in a pivotal episode in Outlaws of the Marsh, a famous Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Will return of Indian pilgrims to Tibet help ease long-running border tensions with China?
China has been urged to use the resumption of visits to Tibet by Indian pilgrims to improve relations between the two countries after years of tensions. Earlier this year, China said it would allow pilgrims to return to the Tibet autonomous region this summer to follow two pilgrimage routes after a five-year suspension caused by Covid controls and ongoing cross-border tensions. It is open to Indian citizens with valid passports who wish to travel to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar for religious reasons. The sites are sacred to followers of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bon. The pilgrimages are usually organised by the Indian government and involve treks through the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand or Nathu La Pass in Sikkim. This year, 5,561 people applied to make the journey, 750 of whom will be allowed to travel along the two routes between June and August, India's Ministry of External Affairs said last month. 'Pilgrimages by Indian devotees to Tibet have played a positive role in restoring stability in China-India relations during times of crisis,' Yang Yabo, director of the Institute of South Asia Studies at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences in Lhasa, wrote in an article published in news platform ThePaper on Thursday.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Air India crash leads to surge in demand for ‘lucky' seat 11A after miraculous survival
Demand for 'lucky' seat 11A has spiked following the lone survivor's miraculous escape in the fatal Air India crash – despite aviation experts warning that the specific seat number does not offer any proven safety advantage. Advertisement Travel agents have reported a sharp surge in passenger inquiries about seat 11A, where Viswash Kumar Ramesh was sitting when the London-bound aircraft crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off. The 40-year-old British national was the lone survivor among the 242 passengers and crew members on board. On Wednesday, he was discharged from Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, six days after the disaster that killed his brother. Ramesh's unlikely escape is now reshaping how travellers choose their seats, according to The Times of India newspaper. When he flies to the United States from New Delhi this week, businessman Jitender Singh Bagga asked to be seated next to an emergency exit. Advertisement 'It has to be a seat next to the emergency exit,' he said. 'I am willing to fork out any extra amount for it. If seat 11A is next to the emergency door of the British Airways flight I intend to take … I want to be in it.'
