A tragic incident involving the crash of Air India flight AI-171 has resulted in over 240 casualties. The only survivor, Ramesh Viswashkumar, shared his miraculous tale of survival in an interview with Indian media on Friday, June 13.
Recalling the harrowing experience, the 40-year-old Viswashkumar, a British national of Indian descent, expressed disbelief when faced with the devastation around him, thinking he would not make it out alive amidst the wreckage.
Viswashkumar was seated in 11A near the emergency exit. Authorities reported that he managed to escape through a damaged cabin door and was later captured on the streets wearing a bloodied T-shirt, with bruises on his face, limping as he was taken to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for treatment. His condition is currently stable.
“I truly can’t believe I am still alive,” he told DD News, India’s national broadcaster. “When I opened my eyes and realized I was alive, I tried to unbuckle my seatbelt and crawl out from where I could escape. Flight attendants and others… they died before my eyes.”
He described the accident occurring a few seconds after the plane took off, with the cabin lights turning green and white. Feeling the plane accelerate but unable to climb, it crashed into a medical college dormitory building. Due to his location near the ground upon impact, his side of the aircraft had openings for escape, while the other side was blocked by the building walls, making it difficult to exit.
Viswashkumar was traveling with his brother Ajay, although they were not seated together. In a choked voice at the hospital, he expressed his concern for his missing brother. Following the incident, he called his father in Leicester, UK, saying, “The plane crashed, I don’t know where my brother is, I can’t see any other passengers, I don’t know how I survived.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the disaster site in Gujarat and personally checked on the lone survivor in the hospital. Viswashkumar shared his account with Modi, who inquired about his health condition.
Dr. Dhaval Gameti, one of the doctors involved in treating Viswashkumar, mentioned that he had multiple abrasions and burns all over his body. While mentally disoriented, he was out of danger, attributing his survival to a miracle.
Rescue teams are still searching for missing individuals and the flight data recorders in the wreckage of B.J. Medical College dormitory. One of the two black boxes has been found. Boeing has assembled an investigative team to assist in the inquiry, marking the first fatal air crash incident involving the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner since its introduction in 2009.