The June 12 Air India crash in Ahmedabad qualifies as one of India's deadliest aviation disasters in decades. Even a tea-time conversation over the tragic accident that took 270 lives gives one gooseflesh, let alone boarding an aircraft. The only survivor of the AI171 crash was Viswash Kumar Ramesh, who was seated on 11A, digits that have become a symbol of survival, superstition and heightened anxiety among flyers.
Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin, managed to escape the wreckage of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner after the aircraft slammed into the hostel building. "When my door broke, I saw there was some space that I could try to get out,” he was quoted as saying by Doordarshan from his hospital bed. “The other side, people couldn’t get out, as it was crushed against a wall.”
His escape route? A nearby emergency exit, accessible only because of where he was seated.
What is being touted (and widely reported) as a quirk of fate was nothing more than happenstance. But 11A has now become a household concern for all flyers.
A superstitious demand surge
Since the crash, travel consultants have reported an unprecedented uptick in flyers specifically requesting 11A — or seats near emergency exits. Devmit Mookerjee, a travel consultant based in Kolkata, confirms this trend.
"Earlier, nobody bothered about the flight kind. Price and time were everything they wanted," Mookerjee told The Telegraph Online. "Now, people are demanding 11A. They’re even asking us to make sure it’s not a Boeing. They want Airbus. It’s good that passengers are becoming more aware, but we’re having a tough time explaining that 11A was the seat number in the Dreamliner that crashed—it doesn’t correspond to the same location across aircraft types."
He added, “We are trying to educate travellers that emergency exit rows vary widely by aircraft. Yes, 11A was a miracle seat—but it was a miracle, not a rule.”
‘Seat of greater significance’
The symbolism around 11A has grown, even among those not directly involved in the crash. Zinia Sen, a screenwriter from Kolkata, was flying to Bagdogra for her upcoming film project, 'Bhanupriya Bhooter Hotel' when she was incidentally assigned seat 11A.
“I boarded my first flight after the tragic Boeing 787 crash, and it’s impossible not to reflect on the magnitude of the grief of families that lost their loved ones,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
Speaking to The Telegraph Online after landing safely, Sen said: “My team didn’t book 11A knowingly. Ironically, in my flight—IndiGo 6E6785—the emergency exit was actually 10A. But yes, being in 11A felt different. For the first time, the crew asked us to shut the windows and announced no photography during landing. That awareness helped. There is a general flight fear now. The memory is raw and will remain in the public consciousness for a long time.”
"Survivability in a crash cannot be predicted by seat number alone and it is indeed difficult to say that a particular seat is safer than others, but the man in 11A survived—it’s a miracle..and that story is resonating with everybody now.”, she added.
Mitchell Fox, director at the US-based Flight Safety Foundation, echoed this in a statement to Reuters: “Each accident is different, and it is impossible to predict survivability based on seat location.”
Past echoes: A Thai crash, the same seat
The Telegraph Online had earlier reported on Thai singer and actor James Ruangsak Loychusak -- one of the few survivors of the Thai Airways TG261 crash in 1998. He revealed he, too, was seated in 11A when his plane crash-landed in southern Thailand, killing 101 people.
Upon learning that Vishwash Ramesh had survived the Air India crash from the same seat, Ruangsak wrote in a Facebook post: “Survivor of a plane crash in India. He sat in the same seat as me. 11A.”
Ruangsak has previously spoken of the trauma he endured, revealing he didn’t fly for nearly a decade after the accident.
Fear and fortitude
Henna Sethi, a Pilates trainer based in Kolkata, recently flew on two Boeing aircrafts, QR541 (787-8) and QR151 (787-9)...from Kolkata to Madrid via Doha. Speaking to The Telegraph Online, she shared how the crash has shifted her emotional state during travel.
“It’s completely natural to feel anxious boarding a flight after hearing about an air crash. Our minds instinctively go into protection mode. But we can’t let fear become the pilot of our lives,” she said.
“I chose to believe in safety, in being protected, and in not letting worry take away from the experience. Anxiety can quietly do more damage than we realize. Courage often looks like continuing to live fully despite it.”
Sethi also called for more empathy towards flight crews: “When there are delays, instead of shouting at staff, we should now understand it’s for a bigger picture. Safety should matter more than punctuality.”
The Aircraft in question
While the superstition around seat 11A has captured public imagination, there is a growing mistrust of Boeing aircraft following the crash. Several passengers and travel agents say they now actively avoid booking tickets on Boeing planes.
"People are saying ‘give us Airbus’—they don’t want to fly in a Boeing," said travel consultant Mookerjee. “The Dreamliner had known technical issues, but before this crash, no one really paid attention. Now, it’s a genuine concern.”
As the crash investigation continues, the spotlight remains firmly on Boeing, which has faced mounting scrutiny over safety lapses in recent weeks. The psychological aftershock among passengers may last far longer than the news cycle.
Airlines and authorities may insist that no seat is universally safer, but for flyers, logic sometimes takes a back seat to fear and symbolism.
And in a country where faith and memory intermingle, it’s likely that for months or maybe years to come, 11A will be the most sought-after seat in Indian skies.