Air India plane crash: Sole survivor recounts moments before deadly impact
The only survivor of the Air India plane crash says he thought he was “going to die”.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, managed to walk away from the wreckage. He was “disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body… but he seems to be out of danger”, according to a doctor who examined him.
There had been 242 people on board flight AI171 when it came down. Among the passengers and crew on the Gatwick-bound aircraft were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a doctors’ hostel in a residential area on Thursday, moments after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, in western India.
India plane crash: Follow live updates
Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer in Ahmedabad, said Mr Ramesh was sat in seat 11A, located next to an emergency exit, and “managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door”.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Ramesh said he “still can’t believe” he survived.
He said he thought he “was also going to die” but he then “opened [his] eyes”.
“I pulled out the belt from under my seat and tried to escape. Then I managed to do it,” he told DD India.
Mr Ramesh said “within the first mile” after take-off “it felt like the plane was stuck” and “like something had happened”.
“Then a light came on, like a green and white light came on inside the plane,” he added.
“The pilot was trying to give it a bit of a push to push it forward, but it was struggling. But it went straight into a building.”
He said the side where he landed was not the hostel side and as soon as the plane door broke, he “could see that it was open for [him] and [he had] a chance to get out”.
He said that his brother, Ajay, was seated in a different row on the plane. “He was travelling with me and I can’t find him anymore. Please help me find him,” he told the Hindustan Times.
‘Bodies all around me’
Mr Ramesh continued: “It all happened so quickly. 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.”
From his hospital bed, Mr Ramesh also met India’s prime minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking in Leicester, Mr Ramesh’s brother Nayan told Sky’s Shamaan Freeman-Powell that their father was on the phone to Mr Ramesh while the plane was still on the runway.
“My dad called him,” the 27-year-old said. “And Vishwash said ‘oh we’re going to take off soon’.”
Two minutes later, their father received a video call from Mr Ramesh to say the plane had crashed and he had survived.
“He video-called my dad as he crashed and said ‘Oh the plane’s crashed. I don’t know where my brother is. I don’t see any other passengers. I don’t know how I’m alive – how I exited the plane’,” Nayan said.
Air India has confirmed 229 passengers and 12 crew members died, but authorities have not confirmed how many people on the ground were killed or injured.
Who were the victims?
Among the British citizens killed in the crash were Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa, and their four-year-old daughter Sara.
Gloucester Muslim Community said in a statement on Facebook that “no words can truly ease the pain of such a profound loss”.
Also on the flight were married couple Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek from west London, who had posted a video from the airport on their Instagram feed shortly before boarding.
Gatwick Airport said in a statement that a reception centre was being set up where information and support will be provided for relatives of those on board.
Tata Sons, Air India’s owner, said it would give around £86,000 to the families of each person who died, cover the medical costs of those injured and support the rebuild of the medical hostel.
British nationals who require consular assistance are advised to call 020 7008 5000, while Air India has set up hotlines to provide information on +91 806 2779 200 for foreign nationals or 1800 5691 444 if calling from India.