Landed on soft soil, no blast on plane: How lone survivor escaped Air India crash
Viswashkumar Ramesh, the only survivor of the Air India AI 171 crash, lived through one of the most catastrophic aviation tragedies involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which went down on June 12, killing 241 out of the 242 people onboard. Top sources informed India Today TV about the reason behind his miraculous escape - Ramesh landed in the narrow gap between two buildings where loose soil had been piled up, cushioning his fall and saving his life.advertisementPrima facie, it is being said that had there been an internal explosion in the aircraft, a passenger seated in 11A - Ramesh's seat - could not have exited unscathed. His survival is now being attributed largely to the spot where he fell, which broke the force of impact just enough to save him.Soon after the crash, as the world reeled from the scale of the tragedy, a faint glimmer of hope pierced through the devastation - emerging from the wreckage was Viswashkumar Ramesh, walking out of the BJ Medical College campus with plumes of thick black smoke billowing in the background, with a video of the same also going viral.
In the aftermath of the crash, authorities moved swiftly to begin DNA identification of the victims. Sources confirmed that the first DNA sample was handed over to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) by 12.19 am on June 13. Over 50 relatives provided samples by 8 pm on June 12, hours after the tragedy.advertisementBy 9 am on June 14, the first match had been established, and the process of returning identifiable remains to the families had begun. In less than 34 hours, the first DNA profiling was completed.The aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was en route to London's Gatwick Airport when the tragedy occurred. This was the first fatal accident involving a 787 since the model entered commercial service in 2011.Ramesh was seated in 11A, next to the emergency exit, when the aircraft broke apart. His seat detached and was flung clear of the wreckage, sparing him from the massive fireball that followed. "The plane broke, and my seat came off," he had earlier told doctors.While speaking to Aaj Tak, India Today's sister website, Ramesh on Tuesday said that he was being discharged, informing that he was heading home to perform the last rites of his younger brother.
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The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Man collects 70 tolas of gold jewellery, cash from plane crash site; hands them over to police
Rajesh Patel, who was among the first responders following the Ahmedabad plane crash on June 12, returned to the scene soon after carrying bodies and many injured to ambulances. He began rummaging through the smouldering wreckage. Mr. Patel, 57, said he collected nearly 70 tolas of gold ornaments, which would be priceless for the victims' kin, ₹50,000 and a few U.S. dollars from the scene of the deadly aviation tragedy and handed them over to the police. As he heard a deafening sound and saw a giant ball of fire rising into the sky, Mr. Patel, who lives just 300 metres from the scene of the accident, hopped into an ambulance of a private hospital run by his relative in the city's Shahibaug area. 'Upon learning that an aircraft had crashed into a hostel complex of BJ Medical College, I rushed to the area with the hope of saving as many people as I could. However, we could not get close to the spot for the first 15 to 20 minutes. We started the rescue work after the fire was brought under control,' said Mr. Patel, who is in the construction business. Since Mr. Patel and the other volunteers did not have any stretchers, they used old sarees, bedsheets, and gunny sacks to carry bodies as well as injured persons to the ambulances, he said. After finishing the rescue work, Patel turned to salvaging luggage and other belongings of those on board the ill-fated Air India plane. 'From 10 to 15 handbags, which were burnt and lying scattered, we recovered 70 tolas of gold jewellery, 8 to 10 silver articles, a few passports, a copy of Bhagavad Gita, ₹50,000 cash and 20 dollars. We handed them over to a police official supervising the rescue operation,' said Mr. Patel. Mr. Patel, who earlier worked as a photographer, had volunteered at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital after the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts. He lost two of his close friends in one of the explosions that took place inside the trauma centre of the hospital. According to inspector D.B. Basiya from the Meghaninagar police station, one of their teams has been tasked with preparing a detailed list of every valuable article as well as luggage recovered from the crash site. 'Once the list is compiled, we will coordinate with Air India and start the process to hand over the valuables and luggage to the kin of the passengers after verification. We don't have any specific number of articles or their value as of now,' said Mr. Basiya. Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi had announced on X on June 16 that every item found from the aircraft's wreckage would be returned. He had also shared a video showing the kin of a woman, who died in the crash, receiving gold ornaments recovered from her body from a police official. 'Air India Passengers: Each and Every Found Item Will Be Returned. After the Air India plane crash, the Ahmedabad City Police went above and beyond to ensure the deceased's family received their loved one's belongings,' Mr. Sanghavi had said in his post. 'Gold ornament weighing 4-5 tolas, worth around ₹4.5 lakh, recovered from Veenaben Agheda's body was meticulously tracked down and returned to her family. The family praised the police for their honest work, expressing gratitude for their dedication to service,' the Minister had added. A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of Air India with 242 persons on board crashed into the B.J. Medical College complex in Ahmedabad moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1.39 pm on June 12. While 241 persons on board the London-bound aircraft died, one passenger miraculously survived. The crash also killed 29 persons on the ground, including five MBBS students.
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Air India Plane Crash: 202 Victims Identified, 124 Bodies Handed Over To Families
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NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Gold, Cash, Gita: Builder Helps Families Get Back Crash Victims' Belongings
Ahmedabad: While police, disaster response workers and local authorities scoured the debris in Ahmedabad hoping to find survivors after the AI171 plane crash, Raju Patel and his friends launched another operation of their own - to recover personal belongings of the victims. Mr Patel, a builder, and his friends plunged into action the moment they heard about the Air India Ahmedabad-London flight crashing into the medical hostel and ending up in flames. "I had come home for lunch when I learnt about the crash. We took an ambulance from the nearest hospital and reached the crash site," he told NDTV. Mr Patel and his friends helped the rescuers and other personnel retrieve bodies from the charred and still burning wreckage. After a few hours, they started collecting valuables and belongings they found in the mangled remains of the Dreamliner. They found around 800 grams of gold, mobile phones, passports, idols and clothes of God, a Bhagavad Gita and cash. They borrowed bags from rescuers and locals on the site to store the valuables and handed them over to the authorities. As of Wednesday, at least 202 victims have been identified through DNA testing, while 157 bodies have been handed over to families. The plane crash resulted in 274 deaths - 241 on the aircraft and the rest on the ground. Only one person on the doomed aircraft, a British national, miraculously survived. Following the June 13 crash, tragic visuals emerged including that of an eight-month-old child in line to give a sample for DNA testing. Another video showed students and staff jumping out of the medical college building where the plane had crashed. The crash brought Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet, known for its immaculate safety record, under scrutiny with 66 flights of the series being cancelled between June 12 and 17 due to technical snags and other reasons. But in the latest review on Tuesday, aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that 24 of the 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliners with Air India are compliant with safety standards.
