A video circulating online shows a 17-second clip of the only survivor emerging from the burning wreckage of an Air India flight AI-171. In the footage, flames and thick smoke engulf the scene after the plane crash, causing onlookers to scream in shock. From the right side of the video, a man in a white T-shirt appears, walking unsteadily. Holding a phone in his left hand, he points towards the direction of the plane crash, seemingly trying to communicate with those present.
Subsequently, a man who appears to be a security officer quickly approaches and grabs the man in the white T-shirt, leading him away from the scene.
The man in the white T-shirt is identified as the sole survivor of the tragedy – 40-year-old British citizen Vishwas Kumar Ramesh. He emerges from the burning wreckage, with thick smoke billowing behind him.
On the afternoon of June 12, Air India flight AI-171, scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad in southern India to Gatwick Airport in London, crashed. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carried 242 people, including crew members, and took off at 1:39 p.m., crashing and catching fire just 8 minutes later.
The plane crashed in a residential area during lunchtime, hitting a dormitory of a medical college located outside the airport, resulting in over 260 fatalities, including ground personnel. This incident marks the deadliest aviation disaster globally in the past decade.
Ramesh was seated near emergency exit 11A at the time of the crash, and authorities stated that he managed to jump out of the aircraft through the emergency exit, ultimately rescuing himself.
In an interview with The Hindustan Times while receiving treatment at the hospital, Ramesh recounted, “When I woke up, there were bodies all around me. I was terrified. I stood up and started running. Plane debris was scattered around me. Someone grabbed me, lifted me into an ambulance, and brought me to the hospital.”
He later added that upon regaining consciousness, he saw an open door and ran towards it, escaping through it.
Ramesh expressed his astonishment, saying, “I couldn’t believe how I made it out alive. There was a moment where I felt like I was going to die too. But when I opened my eyes and saw my surroundings, I realized I was still alive. I still can’t believe how I survived.”
“I saw an opening on the fuselage. I managed to undo my seatbelt, pushed the opening with my legs, and crawled out.”
“I don’t know how I made it out alive. I witnessed people dying – the flight attendant and two people beside me… I walked out of the wreckage.”
According to a previously viral video circulating on social media (link), a man in a blood-stained white T-shirt and dark pants, with facial bruises and a stubble, limps along as bystanders attempt to help him. In the video, people surround the man, asking about the whereabouts of other passengers, to which he responds, “They are all inside.”