Gajanand Pandya sat on a bench for three hours outside the airport till AI 159 to London took off on Saturday. His daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were on it, and he couldn’t bring himself to leave earlier – AI 171 had crashed exactly a month ago, and it was something he just couldn’t shake off.
Once news came in that the plane had taken off, Pandya got into a taxi and headed back home to Bhavnagar, about 150 km away. Dates don’t always matter but this one-month anniversary of the horrific air disaster that killed 241 onboard and 19 on the ground did.
“They came here to spend some time with us and went back today on the same flight. I stayed back at the airport because I was a little worried. Though I know that such plane crashes happen very rarely, it is natural for a father to have concern for his children. That is why I did not leave for Bhavnagar immediately,” Pandya said.
Flight code AI 171 was suspended after that unforgettable afternoon when the Dreamliner plane lost altitude seconds after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:39 pm on June 12 and exploded into a ball of fire as it crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel in Meghaninagar. The flight resumed on June 16 with the new code, AI 159.
It was another afternoon one month later, and the anxiety was evident.
Pandya said he had read news reports about both engines of the ill-fated flight shutting down mid-air seconds after take-off due to a technical issue.
He wasn’t the only one overwhelmed by unease, worry, or fear outside the airport on Saturday.
Though most of the kin left after passengers they had come to see off entered the sprawling terminal building, following check-in at 10 am, a few more, other than Pandya, stayed back. They milled around waiting for the flight to depart. Air India's website informed that the flight took off from here at 1:08 pm.
Bhartiben Prajapati, a resident of Kadi town in Mehsana, waited along with her husband Rajesh Prajapati and other kin. After a brief stay in Kadi, Bhartiben and Rajesh's daughter Dharti was going back to London to be with her husband.
“We are a little nervous because Dharti is going on the same flight that crashed a month ago. That is why we are staying back till her flight takes off. We can’t change what is written in our fate. But I am confident my daughter will reach safely,” Bhartiben said.
Rajesh Prajapati was far more poised, asserting that no one can reach anywhere if people start latching on to such tragedies.
“Whatever happened has happened. We must move forward. Such incidents do not happen often. We have to forget the past. Otherwise, we can never reach anywhere. I am not worried because I am confident the government is taking adequate steps to see such incidents do not take place,” he said calmly.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
