National and Padma award winner Yesudas escaped plane crash not once but twice!!! 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The country has not yet recovered from the shock of the Ahmedabad plane crash. 294 human lives, including passengers, locals and medical students, were lost in a matter of seconds. Only one person miraculously survived the accident that claimed so many lives. Some were saved because their journey was interrupted due to reasons like traffic blocks. Did you know that singer Yesudas has narrowly escaped two plane crashes?

The first incident was on December 9, 1971. Yesudas was supposed to travel on the Indian Airlines Avro aircraft HS-748 that crashed in the Meghamalai mountains of the Western Ghats, but he was late to the airport and did not get on the plane. The Avro plane, which was on its maiden flight from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram, crashed while flying to Madurai. Twenty people, including Congress leader G Chandrasekhara Pillai, who was the Health Minister of Thirukochi, died in the accident.

The second incident occurred on October 13, 1978. An Air India Boeing flight narrowly escaped the crash. Yesudas was accompanied by his wife Prabha, one-year-old son Vinod, singer Sujatha, and Sujatha's mother. The plane was flying over the Atlantic Ocean when smoke rose from the baggage compartment. As a result, the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Manchester. Subsequent inspection revealed that Yesudas' electric organ had melted due to the heat from the plane's bulb, which was causing the smoke. If this had spread, it would have been a major disaster.