The miracle survivor of the Air India jet crash that killed all 241 other people onboard has revealed how he survived the disaster.
Footage of Vishwash Kumar Ramesh appearing to walk away from the crash site covered in cuts and dirt, looking distressed and bewildered, was posted on social media by newspaper India Today on Thursday.
Speaking about his experience, Ramesh, who received “impact injuries” on his chest, eyes and feet, told the Hindustan Times, “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for London’s Gatwick airport with 242 aboard, had just taken off when it crashed outside the Indian city of Ahmedabad.
Speaking from the Civil Hospital, Asarwa in Ahmedabad, Ramesh, who still had his boarding pass with him, told the Hindustan Times: “When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
While such an escape would be a miracle, it appears a last-minute seat change may have helped the 40-year-old British national’s chances. Indian news website News18 found that in the flight bookings log, Ramesh had been in seat 11J, though his boarding pass says 11A.
A seat map of the India Air 787-8 Dreamliner shows 11A is right next to the emergency exit.
Research by Ed Galea, professor of fire safety engineering at London’s University of Greenwich, who has conducted landmark studies on plane crash evacuations, has shown that passengers seated within five rows of an emergency exit have the best chance of getting out alive, CNN reported in January.
Ramesh, who the Hindustan Times reported has lived in London for 20 years with his wife and child, had been in India for a few days to visit his family and was returning to the U.K. with his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, 45.
He said Ajay had been seated in a different row on the plane. “He was traveling with me and I can’t find him anymore. Please help me find him.”
An investigation into the cause of the disaster, which The Daily Beast earlier reported was the first fatal crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, has been launched by the Indian authorities, supported by international agencies.
Air India said 169 of the 230 passengers were Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.
