A growing number of travellers are requesting emergency exit seats, following the survival of one passenger in the tragic Air India plane crash at Ahmedabad Airport last week.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was famously the one and only survivor from the crash in which more than 260 people perished. Ramesh walked free from the wreckage after sitting in seat 11A, close to the emergency exit. His brother, Ajaykumar Ramesh, was also sitting in the exit row at 11J; however, he did not survive the crash.
Whilst it is not clear if sitting in the exit row does give you a better chance of survival in the event of a crash, this hasn’t stopped some passengers from requesting an exit row seat.
Speaking to the Times of India, travel agent Sourabh Tiwari said he had seen an increase in requests for exit row seats in the wake of the accident.
“Fliers are asking about aircraft model, immediately to the emergency exits,” he said.
“I booked a domestic flight on the same airline two days ago, and the passenger specifically requested a seat next to the nearest exit. That’s usually a seat many people avoid because it’s noisier and has limited recline, but after the incident, some passengers are seeing it as a safety measure.”
Air India’s website homepage has been black since the incident, with an emergency line set up for impacted travellers.
Have you noticed an uptick in customers requesting the exit row? Contact sofia@travelweekly.com.au.
