In a tragedy where 241 lives were lost in 33 terrifying seconds, only one man walked out alive.
“I don’t know how I survived. I saw people dying in front of my eyes,” said Vishwash Kumar Ramesh from a hospital bed.
The British citizen of Indian origin, 40, narrated what took place aboard the doomed Air India flight that crashed in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Highlights
- Only one man walked out alive after an Air India flight crashed in the state of Gujarat, India.
- The ill-fated flight was carrying a total of 230 passengers and 12 crew members onboard.
- The lone survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, recalled how something was wrong inside the aircraft with seconds of taking off.
- After realizing he was still alive, Vishwash realized he was surrounded by dead bodies.
Only one man walked out alive after an Air India flight crashed with a total of 230 passengers and 12 crew members onboard
Image credits: Raju Shinde/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Vishwash was the lone survivor to emerge from the devastating wreckage after the London-bound flight AI171 plunged into a medical college dormitory for students just 33 seconds after takeoff.
Buildings near the airport sustained damage, and innocent lives on the ground were also tragically lost.
From the massive wreckage, a dazed and bloodied Vishwash was captured stumbling out and screaming, “The plane exploded,” in the local language.
Image credits: Sanujit.eth/X
Vishwash, who had been living in the UK for about two decades, was returning to his wife and child after visiting family in India.
He was seated in 11A, while his brother, Ajaykumar Ramesh, was seated across the aisle in 11J.
“The plane exploded,” Vishwash Kumar Ramesh screamed as he emerged from the wreckage
Image credits: Sanujit.eth/X
While recalling the final moments before the crash, he said something was visibly wrong when the plane was in the air on Thursday, June 12.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and his co-pilot Clive Kundar gave a Mayday call almost immediately after the plane left the ground. The two highly experienced pilots had more than 9,000 flying hours combined.
“When the flight took off, within five to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air,” Vishwash told local news outlet DD News.
Image credits: SumitHansd / X
Vishwash remembered feeling like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner wasn’t gaining enough altitude and was “just gliding” before the explosion.
“Everything happened in seconds. I realised we were going down,” he said.
“Suddenly, the lights started flickering – green and white – then the plane rammed into some establishment that was there,” he continued.
The “establishment” was a housing facility, provided to local medical students, who were having lunch when the aircraft crashed into their dining hall.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was captured visiting the lone survivor in the hospital
Image credits: afpfr / X
Vishwash first thought he had lost his life along with the 229 other passengers and 12 crew members.
“Later, I realized I was still alive and saw an opening in the fuselage near my seat,” he said.
“I managed to unbuckle myself. I used my leg to push through that opening and crawled out,” he continued.
“Everyone around me” was either lifeless or passing away, he said.
“I still don’t understand how I escaped,” he said.
He suspected that his fellow passengers on the other side of the plane probably couldn’t come out through the exit like he did.
“I don’t know how I survived,” said the bandaged and shaken survivor
“When I saw the exit, I thought I could come out. I tried, and I did. Maybe the people who were on the other side of the plane weren’t able to,” he said.
As he emerged from the explosion, his left hand sustained a burn, and he began screaming until people rushed to help him.
Image credits: HbonesMedia / X
“I don’t know how I survived. I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me…I walked out of the rubble,” he added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was captured visiting Vishwash in the hospital on Friday, June 13.
“The Prime Minister asked about my well-being and how it all unfolded. I told him that I am okay,” he said.
Vishwash’s brother was traveling on the same flight but did not survive
Image credits: I_amMukhtar / X
Vishwash’s terrifying story of survival saw plenty of reactions online, with many calling it a miracle.
“Miracles do happen indeed,” one said, while another wrote, “I’d play the lottery if i were him.”
“This dude is about to become a multimillionaire,” one quipped.
“Wow. Walking away from that, chance in a million,” one said. “Poor guy’s probably lost loved ones though, hope he’s going to be ok.”
Image credits: rehnedotum_ / X
However, some questioned the details of his story and raised suspicion, with one saying, “He is a liar.”
“A plane crashed and then I pretended that I was on it,” one naysayer said.
“With his phone …no scratch,no cracks,this man is a ghost,” said another.
Another naysayer wrote, “I’m calling bulls*** on this.”
“If you believe anyone survived you are stupid. No way is this true,” said another.
There were reportedly technical difficulties inside the aircraft
Vishwash’s younger brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, was in Leicester, UK, awaiting his two siblings’ return to the country when the tragedy unfolded.
“We were just shocked as soon as we heard it. I last spoke to him yesterday morning,” the 27-year-old brother previously told The Guardian.
“We’re devastated, just devastated. He said ‘I have no idea how I exited the plane.’”
As the identities of the victims are released, news outlets reported that a family of five, who were ready to start their new lives in London, were on the ill-fated aircraft.
The couple and their three kids were captured beaming away in the same row just moments before takeoff.
Image credits: Dexerto / X
One video circulating online captured the very same aircraft completing another journey from Delhi to Ahmedabad before the scheduled journey from Ahmedabad to London.
A passenger named Akash Vatsa made a video exposing technical difficulties in the aircraft. He was captured trying to use the plane’s entertainment system and clicking several buttons on the handset, but to no avail.
“We are almost about to taxi. But the AC is not working,” he added.