2 days ago
Had a scare on same flight: Flyer recounts past AI 171 ordeal
Ahmedabad: For 75-year-old Sharad Raval, Thursday's crash of Air India flight AI 171 brought back unsettling memories. Just a month ago, on May 1, the retired London-based Gujarati was on board AI 171 and faced a harrowing experience.
"I had checked in for the 1.10pm flight. After security clearance, we just kept waiting for the flight, and there was no information. I assumed there was a delay," Raval said. Things took a turn after we boarded the aircraft. "I went to use the washroom, and that's when the cabin lights suddenly went off. People told me later that it happened thrice, and for a few seconds each time. It was worrying."
The passengers remained seated for nearly three hours with no clear updates regarding the takeoff.
"It was extremely hot outside. People were getting restless. A musician on board was visibly anxious because he had to make it to London for a concert," Raval recalled. Eventually, the flight was cancelled. The passengers were handed food packets and shifted to a hotel for the night.
They were told the flight would take off on May 2. However, the next day, the same uncertainty prevailed. "The flight, scheduled to depart at 1.10pm, not move an inch until 1.30pm.
It finally took off after another delay of over an hour-and-a-half. Thankfully, we reached London safely."
Raval, a frequent flyer on the Ahmedabad-London route, said the earlier episode now feels like a warning. "At the time, we just thought it must have been a minor technical issue. But today, I feel that maybe that aircraft needed serious attention then," he said, shaken by the Thursday's tragedy.
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