'Miracle' survivor of Air India crash says he 'just walked out' of doomed jet before it exploded, killing 279

Daily Mail​

9 hours ago

The sole survivor of the Air India crash has told how he 'just walked out' of the plane moments before it exploded in a fireball, killing 279 people.
British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, described it as a 'miracle' that he was left with only minor injuries.
He had been visiting his brother in India and was returning to England, where he lives, when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner went down shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad.
It is said to be one of the worst disasters in India's aviation history, having claimed the lives of 279 people so far.
Among the victims, which includes 53 British nationals, is the 40-year-old's brother Ajay Kumar, 35, who was sitting on the other side of the aisle from his brother.
Vishwash, who is being treated at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, just a short distance from where the plane crashed into buildings, has spoken of the moment he escaped from the burning plane.
While sitting up on a hospital bed, he told DD India that he was 'feeling better than yesterday' and that the 'treatment is going good'.
Still in shock, he admitted he 'can't explain' everything that he witnessed as the plane plummeted to the ground.
He was seated in 11A on the doomed flight from the western Indian city and managed to escape past one of its mangled doors before being assisted by locals and taken to hospital in an ambulance.
'The emergency door was broken, my seat is broken,' he said.
Asked if he escaped the plane by jumping to the ground, he replied: 'I am not jumping. I just walked out.'
'It's a miracle,' he said when discussing his survival and injuries.
His doctor added: 'He is having minor injuries only. He has some abrasions over his left forearm and swelling over left eyelid and over the eyes.
'Chest and abdomen is clear, no lung fractures present. The patient is vitally stable.'
He added Vishwash had not complained of nausea, vomiting or any sort of fever.
He is expected to be released in the next 48 hours, his relatives have said.
Jigar Chunilal, who has been at his bedside since he was filmed walking away from the crash site dazed and bloodied, said: 'Not only is it a miracle that he survived but it's also a miracle that he had no serious injuries.
'He's still very shocked that he's still alive and so are we.
'The doctors have told us that he can go home within the next two days and that is incredible.
'But we are not sure when he will be leaving for the UK. He suffered some minor burns but no fractures, broken bones or any serious internal injuries.'
Ramesh's parents, Manibhai and Bava, wife Hiral and two brothers, Sunnykumar and Nayankumar are expected to arrive in Ahmedabad over the weekend to visit him after leaving the UK on Friday night.
Dazed: Astonishing footage showed the man walking away from the scene with some visible injuries to his face
Chunilal added: 'We don't want to say too much because this is a very difficult time for us all.
'On one hand we are very happy that Viswashkumar survived but at the same time we are in mourning for Ajay.'
He added that, as per Hindu custom, the family are keen to carry out Ajay's funeral as quickly as possible and will not return to the UK until this is done.
Earlier Saturday, UK investigators with experience in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data, arrived in the south Asian country in the wake of the tragedy.
Terrifying CCTV footage showed the Boeing 787 Dreamliner careen to the ground shortly after takeoff in the densely populated Meghani area of the city at around 1.40pm local time (8.10am BST).
Detailing the moments after the crash, Vishwash described seeing several passengers and crew lose their lives as parts of the plane were scattered around the site.
Still clutching his boarding pass at the hospital, he called his father in the aftermath of the tragedy.
His brother Nyan told Sky News: '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." '
Devastatingly, injured Vishwash had been begging from his hospital bed: 'Find Ajay, you must find Ajay.'
His cousin, Ajay Valgi, told the BBC, how Vishwash has a wife and 'little boy' at home: adding: 'He only said that he's fine, nothing else. [We are] happy that he's OK, but we're still upset about the other brother.'
On Thursday, relatives gathered at the family's terraced home in central England to comfort the brothers' mother, who is said to be too grief-stricken to speak.
'It's a miracle at least one of them survived,' younger brother Nayan said.
'He said his plane had crashed and he couldn't find anyone, we couldn't believe it. There was blood running down his face.'
The tragedy's death toll has increased to 279 dead, according to a senior Indian police source, making it one of the deadliest plane disasters of the 21st century.
This is a further increase on an earlier figure of 265 victims, which includes those on the plane and ground.
Air India said there were 242 people on board the London-bound flight, with only one survivor, with at least 38 people killed on the ground when the plane smashed into residential buildings.
The official casualty number will not be finalized until the slow process of DNA identification is completed.
The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) announced on Friday night that four of its investigators had arrived in India and have expertise in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data.
The 'release of information on the investigation rests solely with the Indian authorities,' it added.
Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members.
Grief: A family member cries upon hearing the news of her brother who died when the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12
Wreckage: People look at the debris of an Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, located in India's Gujarat state
Shocking: A view of the site where a plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India's western state of Gujarat on June 12
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call moments before it crashed around lunchtime on Thursday after lifting barely 330ft from the ground.
Investigators have also since recovered a black box recorder on Friday from the crash site, with forensic teams still looking for the second.
Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood 'ready to support them' over the incident, which a source close to the case said was the first crash for a 787 Dreamliner.
It comes as an aviation expert believes the co-pilot on Air India flight AI171 pulled the plane's wing flaps instead of retracting the landing gear, causing the plane to crash.
Commercial airline pilot and YouTuber Captain Steve, who analyzes plane crashes and close calls, said he suspected there had been a simple error in the cockpit when the co-pilot was asked to retract the landing gear, with devastating consequences.
He said: 'Here's what I think happened, again folks this is just my opinion. I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot said 'gear up' at the appropriate time.
Little left: Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner lies at the site where the Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12
Destroyed: The tail of the Dreamliner plane that crashed, hitting buildings in a residential area
Aircraft's wheels: Remnants of the fuselage and the landing gear were seen dangling through a gaping hole in the side of what appeared to be a canteen, with half-finished plates of food clearly visible on benches inside
'I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps, instead of the gear. If that happened, this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying.'
Steve said that the flaps being raised would cause the flight to lose airspeed and altitude quickly, something he thinks the pilot would have struggled to control.
He explained his theory by saying the 787's composite wings would normally bend during take off as lift forces take it into the air.
But the Air India plane appears to show no such bending, amid widespread speculation the flaps which help lift the plane off had accidentally been retracted.
It remains unclear what caused Thursday's tragedy, with mechanical failure or pilot error among the possible causes that investigators will now work to identify.
Among those believed to have died is Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the pilot operating the Boeing 787.
Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of experience, was named as the pilot of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.