On Board Air India Flight That Turned Back: 3 Indian Students Headed To Ukraine, From Where People Are Fleeing

New Delhi: While Indian students are desperate to escape Ukraine, three students were actually headed to Boryspil Airport near Kyiv from New Delhi on the Air India Boeing 787 on Thursday morning.

Vishnu Som, the Executive Editor of NDTV 24×7, shared this on his blog post on ndtv.com. Som was also on the flight, travelling to Ukraine on a reporting assignment.

The flight did not land but turned back after Ukraine closed its airspace. When the flight took off from Delhi, the airspace was still open and the students — like its crew, other passengers and much of the world — were unaware of Russia plans that morning.

“I want to become a doctor,” 21-year-old Sonam Sangwan told Som. “I am a little bit worried but if I don’t go, I will miss my year, so it’s best that we go, enrol ourselves and come back.” She is enrolled at Vinnytsia National Medical College.

“The other young women say much the same. Education comes first, war or no war. But Sonam and her friends will have to wait. As will I,” Som wrote.

There were eight passengers and 28 crew members on the flight, headed to a country from where thousands were fleeing.