British man changed flight to escape death, his new flight seat is also 11A

Extract translation

Horrible coincidence? British man changed flight to escape death, new seat is also 11A

Editor : Li  Enzhen / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2025/06/17/a103996260.html / Image : On 14 June 2025, the wreckage of Air India Flight AI171 Boeing 787-8 was parked in a residential area near Ahmedabad Airport. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP via Getty Images)

Air India AI-171 crashed, only one person survived out of 242 people on board. A 31-year-old British man was originally scheduled to take this flight, but was lucky to escape because of the flight change. What is more coincidental is that his new flight seat has the same seat number as the only survivor of Air India, which is also "11A".

At 1:39 pm local time on 12 June 2025, flight AI171 from Ahmedabad International Airport in western India to London Gatwick Airport in the UK crashed less than a minute after takeoff, and then exploded violently, causing a fierce fire and thick smoke rising to the sky.

This air crash is one of the worst air crashes in the world in a decade. There were 242 people on the flight, including 169 Indian citizens, 53 British citizens, 1 Canadian citizen and 7 Portuguese citizens, and only one survived.

The survivor was 40-year-old British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. He was in seat 11A (next to the cabin door) at the time, and police said he squeezed out of the broken cabin door to escape. Afterwards, someone photographed him on the street wearing a bloodstained T-shirt, with bruises all over his face, limping and walking on the street. He was then sent to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for treatment and is currently in stable condition.

"I really couldn't believe I was still alive." Vishwash told DD News, India's national broadcaster, "When I opened my eyes and saw that I was still alive, I tried to unbuckle my seat belt and climb out from where I could escape. The flight attendants and others... died in front of me."

On the same day, a British man who was originally going to board the crashed plane was delayed in his work schedule and temporarily changed his schedule to return to the UK on 14 June 2025. Unexpectedly, this decision saved his life.

The British Daily Mail reported on 16 June 2025 that 31-year-old Owen Jackson was from Saffron Walden in Essex, England. He went to India for work and was originally expected to return home last Thursday (12th). However, due to his busy work schedule, his colleagues suggested that he take a flight back last Saturday (14th).

The report said that because Jackson did not tell his family in advance about the change of itinerary, when his wife learned about the tragedy, he was in a meeting and did not check his phone. He did not learn about the accident until two hours later.

At the time of the incident, Jackson's wife Phillipa waited for several hours without being able to contact him. She said: "I was very emotionally broken in those days and often cried for no reason. Thinking of the families of the victims, my heart was broken."

Even more coincidental is that Jackson was arranged in seat 11A on last Saturday's flight, and when AI171 crashed, the only survivor Vishwash was sitting in this lucky seat.

"It's shocking," Jackson said. "I'm really grateful - it's a weird coincidence."

"You occasionally hear about a plane crash and usually don't think much about it, but when you find out that it's the flight you were supposed to take (crashed) and it's only two days apart, you really rethink your life."