Blanket And Bravery: How This Medical Student Escaped The Flames Of The Air India Crash
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Air India plane crash: Trapped in a burning hostel, Aishwarya Toshniwal wrapped herself in a blanket and fled the smoke
For 30-year-old Aishwarya Toshniwal, a second-year oncopathology student at Gujarat Cancer Research Institute, Thursday afternoon turned into a surreal brush with death when an Air India flight crashed into the BJ Medical College hospital mess—just metres from her fifth-floor hostel room.
The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (AI171), carrying 242 passengers and crew, nose-dived seconds after take-off and crashed into the civil hospital campus in Ahmedabad's Meghaninagar area. The fiery explosion and debris tore through several buildings, killing everyone on board but one, along with 24 others on the ground. Aishwarya survived, but not without injuries and trauma.
Wrapped in a blanket and navigating pitch-dark, smoke-filled corridors, she escaped down the stairs as the building shook and debris rained around her. She suffered burns during the descent but lived to recount the nightmare.
'This will stay with me for the rest of my life. I've never been so close to death. For a moment, I thought it was all over," Aishwarya told The Times of India. 'But I knew the building well. That helped me stay focused, not panic, and find my way out even though I was breathless and choking."
Minutes later, she managed to call her father, Amol Toshniwal, who runs a cloth store in Akola's Durga Chowk. Amol shut his shop and rushed home in a daze as horrifying visuals from the crash site started streaming across news channels.
'It was nothing but God's grace," Times of India quoted an emotional Amol as saying. 'She had just returned to Ahmedabad a day after celebrating her grandfather's birthday with us. Who could have imagined such a thing the very next day?"
The family—Aishwarya's mother, grandparents, and extended relatives—broke down on hearing her voice.
Investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) recovered the flight's Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), or Black Box, from the very rooftop of Aishwarya's hostel—highlighting how close she had been to the crash's epicentre.
Officials said the recorder, typically located in the tail of the aircraft and crucial to reconstructing the jet's final moments, was found lodged near the top of the residential quarters of BJ Medical College. Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed the Black Box was recovered within 28 hours of the tragedy. Investigators are still searching for the Cockpit Voice Recorder.
As the investigation deepens, officials are considering multiple possible causes, including technical failure, flap malfunction, or bird strikes. The DGCA has ordered enhanced safety inspections for all Boeing 787 Dreamliners in Air India's fleet.
Back in Akola, the Toshniwal family is still shaken but grateful, also praying for those who didn't make it.
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