A British man who survived Thursday’s tragic Air India plane crash recounted how he escaped the wreckage by finding an opening in the fuselage. “I managed to unbuckle myself, used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out,” Vishwashkumar Ramesh told Indian state media DD News. The 40-year-old, who was seated in 11A on the London-bound Boeing 787 flight, witnessed the incident unfold shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad, western India, where he tragically lost all other passengers and crew members on board, including 169 Indian nationals and 52 British nationals. Over 200 bodies have been recovered, but the exact numbers of passengers versus those on the ground remain unclear.
From his hospital bed, Mr. Ramesh described the chaotic moments just after take-off, stating that the lights inside the aircraft began to flicker. “Within five to 10 seconds, it felt like the plane was stuck in the air,” he recounted. He observed the lights flashing green and white before the aircraft “suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.” The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a structure used for housing doctors at the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital. However, Mr. Ramesh noted that the section where he was seated landed closer to the ground and did not hit the building directly.
“When the door broke and I saw there was some space, I tried to get out of there and I did,” he said, explaining that escape from the opposite side was impossible as that area was directly against the wall of the building. Video footage shared on social media captured Mr. Ramesh walking towards an ambulance with smoke rising in the background. Reflecting on the ordeal, he stated, “I could not believe that I came out of the wreckage alive. I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too, but when I opened my eyes and looked around, I realized I was alive. I still can’t believe how I survived. I walked out of the rubble.”