Second miracle of 11A, British Dad Owen Jackson Escapes Air India Crash After Last-Minute Flight Change

Owen Jackson, a businessman from Saffron Walden, Essex, says he is still in shock after learning that the Air India flight he was originally booked on had crashed shortly after takeoff. The tragic accident occurred in Ahmedabad on Thursday, June 12, 2025, and claimed at least 265 lives — 241 on board and an estimated 33 on the ground.

Mr. Jackson had been on a business trip visiting a call centre in India. Due to work commitments, he extended his stay and did not board the doomed flight, which was bound for London Gatwick. In a chilling twist of fate, he later rebooked on a Saturday flight — believed to be the same aircraft — and was assigned seat 11A. This was the exact seat occupied by the sole survivor of the crash, 28-year-old Vishwashkumar Ramesh.

“It’s a shock. I’m more grateful than anything else – it is such a weird coincidence,” Mr. Jackson told The Sun. He said he only found out about the crash two hours later because he was in meetings. His phone had been flooded with messages from his worried wife, Phillipa, but he missed them all initially.

“At the time of the crash, my family didn’t even know when I was flying back. I hadn’t updated them,” he explained. Phillipa said she had to stay calm while teaching school children, even though she felt like she was living in a nightmare until she heard from him.

“For days, I was just bursting into tears randomly,” she said, though adding her grief was nothing compared to what families of the victims are suffering.

The crash of Air India Flight 171 is one of the deadliest in India’s aviation history. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the pilot, has been called a “hero” for his efforts to divert the plane in the final moments. He managed to steer the aircraft away from a three-storey apartment block that housed 18 families. Sadly, the plane crashed into a doctor’s hostel nearby, killing several people.

Authorities are continuing their investigation into what caused the tragedy, as rescue workers and sniffer dogs search the wreckage. The crash site remains under tight security, and efforts are ongoing to identify all the victims.