VISWASH Kumar Ramesh, a 39-year-old only survivor of the Air India flight that crashed on Thursday, said he had yet to understand how he cheated death.
The ICIR reported that an Air India plane with 242 people onboard crashed into a building moments after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on Thursday, June 12.
It burst into flames immediately, with the inferno killing all on board, except Ramesh.
Hours after the crash, footage surfaced online showing a man with facial injuries and a bloodstained shirt. Limping slightly, he walked to an ambulance on his own and told the surrounding crowd he had come “from inside” the plane.
“I still can’t believe how I got out alive,” Mr. Ramesh said on Friday, June 13, in an interview from his hospital bed with India’s state broadcaster, Doordarshan. “I thought I was also about to die.”
Ramesh, whose seat number was 11A, said it was a miraculous escape from a tragedy that claimed the lives of others on board the ill-fated flight.
He recalled that just five to ten seconds after takeoff, the plane felt ‘stuck,’ as if struggling to gain speed, then it crashed while seemingly trying to accelerate.
He said the front of the plane crashed into an open area after hitting several buildings, while the tail became lodged in a structure later identified as the dining hall of a medical college.
Ramesh said he unbuckled his seatbelt after the crash when he spotted a chance to escape. It’s unclear whether he had to open the emergency exit next to him or if it had already been forced open by the impact.
“When my door broke, I saw there was some space that I could try to get out,” he said, adding, “The other side, people couldn’t get out, as it was crushed against a wall.”
The ICIR reports that at first, Ramesh’s survival seemed almost impossible as officials said the crash was so devastating that most victims were burned beyond recognition.
But by evening, Air India confirmed there was one survivor receiving treatment in the hospital and India’s Home Minister, Amit Shah, later visited him.
Ramesh, a British citizen, was heading back to England after a vacation in India with his brother Ajay, according to their younger brother Nayan. Ajay, who was listed as sitting in seat 11J on the right side of the plane, did not survive the crash.
Shortly after the crash, Ramesh made a video call from near the wreckage to his family in Leicester, assuring them he was alive, his younger brother said.
At their home, grief over Ajay’s death mixed with disbelief and relief that Ramesh survived.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.