‘At first, I thought I was dead': Air India plane crash's sole survivor in seat 11A recounts harrowing escape
Air India Plane Crash: Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole British survivor of the London-bound Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash, has shared a chilling account of the disaster from his hospital bed.
Speaking to DD News on Friday, the 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh described the moment the plane 'felt stuck in the air' for 5-10 seconds after take-off, followed by flickering green and white lights. 'The aircraft wasn't gaining altitude and was just gliding before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.' he said.
Seated in 11A, next to an emergency exit, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh said he initially believed he had died but managed to unbuckle himself and crawl through an opening in the fuselage to escape the wreckage.
'I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people near me… I walked out of the rubble,' he said, still in disbelief over his survival.
'For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too. 'But when I opened my eyes and looked around, I realised I was alive. I still can't believe how I survived.' the lone survivor of the Air India plane crash said.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner Air India plane crashed into a medical college in Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing the other 241 people on board.
The tragedy is one of the deadliest involving British nationals and marks the first fatal accident of a 787 aircraft.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site on Friday and spoke with the lone survivor of the Air India plane crash, Ramesh, in hospital.
Investigations into the cause of the crash of the London-bound Air India plane are ongoing, with aviation experts considering possibilities such as dual engine failure or incorrect flap settings during take-off.
Air India's parent company, Tata Group, has pledged financial support of ₹ 1 crore to each bereaved family and will cover medical expenses for the injured.
Air India chief executive Campbell Wilson visited the area, according to the BBC, but did not take questions from media.
An Air India flight that was scheduled to depart from Gatwick to Ahmedabad on Friday at 8.30pm has been cancelled.
Air India has set up friends and relatives assistance centres at Gatwick, Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad airports to provide support in the wake of AI171's crash.
UK officials are being deployed to India to support the investigation, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.
US transportation secretary Sean Duffy confirmed US teams from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board were also heading to India with support from Boeing and GE Aerospace.
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