Our plane could’ve crashed but Ratan Tata was “chill": Aircel Founder

“He was chill. He said let the pilots do their job”: said Ratan Tata to his companion when one engine of their plane failed.

The plane was just one engine failure away from crashing within 30 min, imagine!

The companion was the Aircel founder C Sivasankaran.

Sivasankaran revealed it on the ‘Figuring Out With Raj Shamani’ podcast.

Both of them were travelling on a flight from Singapore to Seychelles when they received alarming news: one of the plane's engines had failed.

While the billionaire philanthropist was calm and composed, the Aircel founder panicked, like most human beings normally would. He even sent an email to his son.

“I told him I wish I would live longer. I was reconciled to the fact that I was dying..” he told Shamani.

 I mean, how would you react if you were told you were going to die in 30 minutes? 

Most of us would be shocked, panicking, crying, or praying hopelessly.

Some would be going into a shock. Others would be panicking and calling their relatives. A few would burst into tears. However, Ratan Tata was in complete zen mode, even in the face of imminent death. 

However, both of them managed to escape their cruel fate as the second engine had not failed. 

“One minute before landing, I saw whole airport was lighted up, ambulances and firefighters were standing. I was told these arrangements were made to protect the plane from being consumed by flames once it lands in the airport,” told Sivasankaran. 

Who Is C Sivasankaran? 

Sivasankaran, the founder of AIRCEL, one of India’s early mobile operators, started his entrepreneurial journey in 1985 by purchasing Sterling Computers. He revolutionized the market by introducing affordable PCs and later attempted to invest in Bharti Telecom.