According to travel agents, there’s been a significant increase in interest for seat 11A, dubbed “lucky,” following the miraculous survival of a passenger who was seated there during the recent Air India crash.
The sharp rise comes despite aviation experts warning that the specific seat — which is next to an emergency exit — has no proven safety advantages.
Jitender Singh Bagga, a businessman, expressed to the Times of India that he’s prepared to pay more to secure a seat by the emergency exit on his upcoming flight to the US, emphasizing the importance of his choice.
“If seat 11A is next to the emergency door of the British Airways flight I intend to take … I want to be in it,” he added.
Rajesh Bhagnani from Kolkata also echoed this sentiment, acknowledging that while fate ultimately decides life and death, he wants to maximize his chances of survival by choosing seat 11A if it’s near an emergency exit.
Some passengers are opting for seat 11A even if it isn’t next to an emergency exit, believing it to be lucky, according to travel agents.
“It has got to do with mindset and belief in luck. The fliers say it is for their peace of mind,” Anjani Dhanuka, regional chairman of the Travel Agents Association of India, said.
The seat number offered “mental peace,” he added.
Viswash Kumar Ramesh was sitting in seat 11A when Flight 171 bound for London Gatwick crashed shortly after takeoff from the Indian city of Ahmedabad last Thursday.
Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, remarkably survived the crash with only minor injuries while his brother, who was sat next to him, was one of the 242 passengers and crew on board who died in the aviation disaster.
He escaped through the emergency door and was seen walking away from the crash scene in a daze on the phone in shocking footage.
On Wednesday, Ramesh was discharged from the hospital in Ahmedabad. On Wednesday, he helped carry his dead brother’s casket in India while sporting bandages on his face.
Desire for “lucky” 11A is also being driven by an eerie coincidence.
Thai actor-singer Ruangsak Loychusak claimed to have sat in the same seat when he survived an aircraft crash in southern Thailand in December 1998.
A total of 101 people died when Thai Airways flight 261 crashed into a swamp.
“This seat will be very difficult to reserve in the future,” one follower commented under Ruangsak’s post.
However, a total of 45 passengers and crew survived the crash, undercutting the claims of “lucky” seat 11A.
“In this particular instance, because the passenger was sitting adjacent to the emergency exit, this was obviously the safest seat on the day,” Ron Bartsch, chairman at AvLaw Aviation Consulting, told the Independent.
“But it’s not always 11A, it’s just 11A on this configuration of the Boeing 787.”
