Mangalore crash: Confusion over time saves life of Keralite

She was originally scheduled to board the ill-fated Air India Express plane bound for Mangalore.

But, Thresiamma Philip, a Keralite who currently lives in Dubai, was saved by a stroke of luck as she got the timing of the flight wrong.

A visibly relieved Philip, who was planning to meet her children in Mangalore, said she could not believe that such a miracle had taken place.

"I was booked on the Air India Express flight that was scheduled to depart at 1.15am from Dubai. But I thought my flight was at 1.15pm. The confusion over AM and PM saved my life," she told a television channel over phone from Dubai.

Philip came to know that she had missed her flight only after she read online that an Air India plane has crashlanded near Mangalore.

Only after reading the news item, she checked her ticket and found that she was one of the passengers of the ill-fated plane and was lucky enough to miss the flight, albeit my mistake.

"It is a miracle...I think only God saved me from this incident. I still cannot believe...," she said.

Philip usually takes an Air India flight to Mangalore twice a year to meet her children in Mangalore and then to her native place in Kerala.

"Every time I go to Kerala, I go via Mangalore, because my children are there...This time... I am happy and I can't believe... I am thankful to God," she said.