Air India crash LIVE: Brit couple including celeb wellness guru feared to be on doomed jet named after ‘goodbye' video
Full video shows plane crash 40 seconds after take-off
Harrowing CCTV footage has now been released showing the Boeing 787 taking off before appearing to lose power.
Video shows the plane taxing down the runway before taking off at around 1.38pm local time from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad.
Footage shows the plane take to the sky - before it appears to stop climbing and then plummet back down to earth.
The flight then crashed in a fireball into a doctor's hostel.
Police are now hunting through the rubble and wreckage for any survivors.
Watch the full video here.
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Scottish Sun
21 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
What caused the Air India plane disaster? Six main theories emerge – from mystery over landing gear to 40C weather
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WHILE the exact cause of the horrific Air India crash is not yet known, speculation continues to swirl online. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 242 passengers on board - including 53 Brits and 11 children - smashed into a doctors' hostel in the west of India on Thursday. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 12 A fire officer stands next to the crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft Credit: Reuters 12 The Air India plane crashed into a medical college campus creating a huge fireball Credit: x/nchorAnandN 12 The plane's tail can be seen sticking out of a building following the crash Credit: AP 12 People sift through the debris of Air India flight AI171 as they search for survivors Credit: Alamy The plane was heading to London Gatwick when it crashed just moments after take-off. One of Flight AI171's two "black boxes" has reportedly been recovered - which should provide crucial evidence on the fatal five minutes between the plane's takeoff and impact. Follow our live blog here... The black box will provide technical information on details like time, airspeed, altitude and hearing. And the cockpit voice recorder may also offer vital clues such as any conversation between the two pilots, any engine noises or bangs, stall warnings or sounds of other equipment. The crash killed at least 265 people - including those on board and locals on the ground. As crash investigators begin to pour over that data, The Sun looks at six main theories as potential causes for India's worst ever aviation disaster. Bird strikes 12 Aviation experts believe the aircraft's engines could have been struck by birds Credit: X A bird strike could have taken out both of the jet's General Electric engines. While a bird taking down something the size of a commercial airliner might sound fanciful, there are numerous examples. Most famous was US Airways Flight 1549, which suffered double engine failure in 2009 after being hit by a flock of Canada geese shortly after taking off from New York's LaGuardia Airport. The plane, captained by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, was forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson river - earning the tagline the "Miracle on the Hudson" since there were zero casualities. Ahmedabad Airport is known to have a large avian population - a study in 2018 found the airport has 'a high potential of bird-aircraft collision hazards'. Captain C S Randhawa, who has flown a Boeing 777 for 15 years, and was the former Deputy Chief Flight Inspector, Operations, at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said a bird strike was "the most probable' cause of the crash. "Both Ahmedabad and Agra airports are full of birds. Incidents of aircraft being hit by birds keep happening on and off," he told The New Indian Express. Aviation safety consultant and instructor Captain Mohan Ranganathan told the same publication: "Bird hit appears to be the reason as of now. "Ahmedabad airport has a history of a huge bird population. I flagged this issue 17 years ago and have written extensively about it too." Brit survivor WALKS AWAY unscathed from Air India plane crash after jumping from flaming jet Captain Ranganathan claims that the birds are drawn to the slaughterhouses near the airport He added: 'The reason for such a huge presence is due to slaughterhouses in the vicinity of airports which should never have been allowed. "They are never relocated by the authorities because they are owned by politicians or their relatives.' In January 2021, an identical plane to the one involved in Thursday's crash aborted a take-off in Mexico after birds flew into one of its engines. Wing Flap Position 12 CCTV footage shows the doomed Air India Dreamliner taking off in Ahmedabad Credit: ViralPress Aviation experts have suggested that the position of the aircraft's wing flaps could have played a role in the disaster. Video evidence suggests the flaps were fully retracted, which would have provided minimal lift. The aircraft's landing gear also remained deployed throughout which would have increased potentially fatal drag. One theory is that the landing gear was stuck and pilots retracted the flaps to reduce drag or that the flaps were faulty and caused the plane to stall. Aviation expert Terry Tozer, author of Confessions of an Airline Pilot, told the BBC: "It's very hard to say from the video for sure, it doesn't look as if the flaps are extended and that would be a perfectly obvious explanation for an aircraft not completing its take-off correctly." Marco Chan, a former pilot and a senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University, said: "That would point to potential human error if flaps aren't set correctly, but the resolution of the video is too low to confirm that." Pilot error 12 The plane's captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of flying experience The state-of-the-art Boeing 787-8 is highly automated, with human pilots making only key decisions - but human error cannot be ruled out. Co-pilot Clive Kundar had more than 1,000 hours of flying experience and made the mayday call but Captain Sumeet Sabharwa at the helm had 8,000 hours - making him one of Air India's most experienced pilots. Sabharwa was also a trained instructor, meaning he had a deep understanding of flying protocol. Estimates suggest the amount of runway utilised by the pilots was less than 2,000 metres - when a full plane on a hot day usually needs a run of 2,500 metres. Additionally, since the wing flaps are also set by the pilots before takeoff, with multiple checklists and procedures in place to ensure that they are positioned correctly, that could also be another source of human error. Heat 12 Smoke billows from the crash site, with temperatures hitting 40C on the day Credit: X Planes get less lift on a hot day due to lower air density, and therefore they need to go faster to get as much lift as on a cooler day. Flight AI171 took off in sweltering 40°C heat in the early afternoon sunshine. The plane may have struggled to gain lift if it took off after a short runway take-off. In his emergency mayday call, co-pilot Clive Kundar says "No thrust, losing power, unable to lift." Technical Error 12 One of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners taking off at London Heathrow Airport Credit: Alamy Catastrophic technical or engineering issues have not been ruled out. The jet's complex design mean it could take months for a design or engineering fault to be pinpointed. The Dreamliner has a spotless safety record - this is the first time the model has crashed since its introduction in 2011. However, airlines using the Boeing plane have reported numerous issues with the engines, including a mid-air dive on a LATAM Airlines flight last yeear. During hearings in Washington last year, a former Boeing engineer turned whistleblower urged the aerospace giant to ground all Dreamliners. However, the aircraft manufacturer rejected the claims and said it had full confidence in the 787. Overloading 12 People online have also speculated that the plane may have been over burdened Credit: Ray Collins The aircraft could also have been too heavy to take-off. Danger of overloading could be increased - again - by adverse wather conditions caused by extreme heat. But the weight of aircraft is usually carefully checked ahead of take-off and the theory is thought unlikely. 12 Securit personnel guard the crash site as night falls Credit: Reuters
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Miraculous stories of people who survived plane crashes - including man who escaped TWO disasters - after Brit defies the odds to walk free from Air India wreckage
Flying by aeroplane is often considered to be the safest mode of transportation, with experts claiming that people take a greater risk stepping behind the wheel than they do boarding a flight. Plane crashes are, thankfully, rare. However, when disaster does strike, and a plane is brought out of the sky, it results in catastrophic casualties. On Thursday, the world looked on in horror as an Air India flight bound for London Gatwick, carrying 244 passengers and crew, including 53 Britons, crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport in the northwestern Indian state of Gujrat. Air India later confirmed that 241 of the 242 people aboard the flight AI7171 tragically died in the crash. In what has been described as a miracle, Viswash Kumar Ramesh - seated in 11A by the exit - survived, but his sibling, who sat on the other side of the aisle in seat 11J, perished in the explosion. Viswash joins a tiny group of individuals who are all bonded by one miraculous experience of surviving an aviation disaster that killed other people. Around the world, ordinary human beings have somehow managed the extraordinary as they survived plummeting thousands of feet out of the sky in calamitous crashes - a phenomenon the survivors themselves are unable to explain. Here, FEMAIL revisits the miraculous stories of people who underwent the most terrifying aviation disasters and lived to tell the tale... Vishwash Kumar Ramesh Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was the sole survivor of Thursday's devastating Air India plane crash disaster after he was 'ejected' from the jet before the plane hit the ground and exploded. The survivor, who lives in London with his wife, was travelling to Gatwick Airport in seat 11A by the exit following a business trip with his brother Ajaykumar Ramesh, 35, who sat on the other side of the aisle in seat 11J, and tragically died in the explosion. Astonishing footage showed Vishwash, who has reportedly sustained injuries to his chest, eyes, and feet, hobble away from the scene of the crash. Medical staff are currently treating him at a local hospital in Ahmedabad, where he had told doctors that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly splitting in two before there was a loud explosion. In heartbreaking scenes, Viswash begged from his hospital bed: 'Find Ajay, you must find Ajay.' Yesterday evening, the brother's relatives gathered at the family's home in Leicester 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 Nayankumar Ramesh, 27, told MailOnline. 'He said his plane had crashed and he couldn't find anyone, we couldn't believe it. There was blood running down his face. Asked how the family are wrestling with the tragedy of one brother surviving and the loss of the other, he gestured to his sobbing mother, Manibai Ramesh, behind him. 'That's your answer', the brother said. 'We're just baffled, baffled.' He added: 'It's a miracle at least one of them survived.' Nayan said his older siblings were in India on a business trip concerning their family business. Viswash was formerly the sole director of textile company RMV Fashion, which closed in 2022. The brothers' cousin Ajay Valgi, from Leicester, said Viswash called his family to say he was 'fine' after fleeing the burning aircraft. But while they miraculously heard from one brother, younger sibling Ajaykumar was tragically never in touch. Cousin Ajay told the BBC: 'I'm feeling absolutely upset. He's not just my cousin; he's also one of my best friends as well. 'They were sitting next to each other, but we don't know what happened to [Ajay]. He added, 'We're not doing well. We're all upset.' Nayan said his brother was in disbelief at how he got out alive, saying on the phone: 'I have no idea how I survived or exited the plane.' Austin Hatch Austin Hatch's survival story is perhaps more remarkable than any other - as he survived not one, but two plane crashes. The 29-year-old, who grew up in the US state of Indiana, outlived his entire family after two disastrous collisions killed his mother, father, sister, brother and stepmother. He was just eight years old when tragedy struck for the first time in his life during a small flight from North Michigan to his home state after visiting grandparents. His father Stephen, a doctor and pilot, was flying the aircraft carrying Austin, his brother Ian, then five, and his sister Lindsay, then 11. Austin's mother Julie, then 38, was also on board. But as Stephen prepared to land the plane, it tragically plummeted out of the sky, killing Julie, Ian and Linsday immediately. Miraculously, Stephen and Austin survived and escape d the wreckage with minor injuries. Speaking to the Mirror, Austin said: 'The emotional pain was severe at losing my mum and siblings so young. I was blessed not to be physically injured too badly, but it was hard.' As Austin and his father muddled through life in the wake of the tragedy that took their family from them, their bond grew ever stronger. Austin reached adolescence and dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player; something Stephen encouraged in him. Meanwhile Stephen found love again with a woman named Kimberley a year after the crash. Kimberley had three children of her own; a son also named Austin, and two daughters named Britnee and Maria. Despite the heartache of losing his mother and siblings in the crash when he was just a child, Austin revealed how he found another maternal figure in his stepmother as she too encouraged him to pursue his basketball dream. And on 15 June 2011, Austin's dream became a reality when he was offered a scholarship to play and study at the University of Michigan - his mother Julie's alma mater. But the joy was short lived as tragedy struck again in the Hatch family just nine days later on another family flight. Austin, Stephen and Kim were involved in a second devastating plane crash; from which Austin was the only survivor. However, despite making a miraculous recovery, Austin was left in critical condition with a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a fractured femur and a brain injury. He was put into an induced coma to ease the swelling on his brain, but did not regain consciousness until six weeks after doctors first tried to bring him out of it. When he finally regained consciousness, he had to learn how to walk and talk again while also dealing with the unimaginable pain of learning his father and stepmother had died - something he described as 'the darkest time of my life'. He recalled: 'Even the waking up process took a few months. It was like the lights were on but nobody was home. I was there but I didn't really understand what was going on and I couldn't talk.' Despite losing almost everything in the two crashes, Austin managed to graduate from high school and made it to the University of Michigan a year after his scholarship was first offered. There, he found love with his now-wife Abby, who played hockey while Austin played basketball - and the pair now share two children, a boy named Hudson and a girl named Marlie. Austin's early years may have been plagued by tragedy, but he now uses his remarkable story of survival to help others and has developed a GRIT programme which helps people overcome disaster in their personal lives and learn how to carry on after the worst has happened. Juliane Koepcke On Christmas Eve in 1971, Juliane Koepcke, then 17, survived LANSA Flight 508, which was travelling from Lima, Peru's capital, to biological research centre Panguana. After the plane was struck by lightning and disintegrated in the air, Juliane, still strapped into her seat, fell 3,000m into the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. The disaster killed her mother, zoologist Maria Koepcke. The night before the fateful flight, Juliane and her mother had attended the pupil's high school graduation in the capital of Peru, Lima. Keen to get home for Christmas, they booked a flight on 24 December with troubled airline LANSA. The airline's safety record was so poor that Hans-Wilhelm urged them to avoid the flight, but it was the only commercial plane with seats still available. The survivor, who now lives in Germany and is a mammalogist specialising in bats, remained silent in the media for several years following her rescue, but began opening up about her story 15 years later when filmmaker Werner Herzog took her back to the Amazon Rainforest to retrace her steps in documentary Wings of Hope in 1998. Writing about her memory of the flight in Reader's Digest in 2013, Juliane recalled a fairly smooth first 30 minutes of the flight, during which passengers were served snacks. However, following an uneventful beginning, passengers soon became frantic when the aircraft flew into a thunderstorm and could see lightning flashing all around them. She recalled people screaming and crying around her as the plane was thrown around in the turbulence, with sandwich trays flying across the cabin. Describing the moment the plane is thought to have been struck by lightning, Juliane recalled the plane going into a 'nosedive' as it fell out of the sky, with her mother saying: 'Now it's all over.' As she fell through the air and towards the Amazon Rainforest, Juliane recalled losing consciousness before waking up again, still falling from the sky and upside-down. She described the vast forest beneath her as looking 'like broccoli' as she hurtled towards it. On impact, she lost consciousness again before waking up the following day at 9am (her watch was still working). She had suffered deep cuts, a broken collarbone, an eye injury and a concussion. As she came around and realised what had happened, Juliane frantically searched for her mother, despite being incredibly weak from the fall. However, Maria's body was nowhere near where Juliane had ended up. For the next 11 days, Juliane survived alone in the Amazon Rainforest while she hoped to be rescued. Luckily, she had spent enough time in the forest as a child to have developed a strong knowledge of her dangerous surroundings. As she searched for resources to keep her going while she tried to get to safety, she found a tiny spring which she drank from - however the water source also provided hope she could find her way out of the forest, and she continued to follow it for the next few days. During her journey, Juliane resorted to drastic measures to stay alive. In 2009 she told CNN the cut on her arm had become infested with maggots and she feared she would lose the limb. 'I still wonder how so many maggots could have fitted into that little hole, it was no bigger than a one euro coin,' she recalled. After stumbling across a tank of gasoline, she poured it onto the wound to disinfect it. As she continued walking, Juliane also found bodies of other plane crash victims, many of whom were still strapped to their seats. 'I was horrified -- I didn't want to touch them but I wanted to make sure that my mother wasn't one of them. So I took a stick and knocked a shoe off one of the bodies. The toe nails had nail polish on them and I knew it could not have been my mother because she never used nail polish,' she recalled. When the stream eventually opened out into a river, Juliane was hopeful once more, but wrote of her anger and despair when she realised there wasn't a single person in sight. Desperate to get to safety, she swam through the treacherous waters, filled with reptiles, piranhas and stingrays, to try and find civilisation. Her in-depth knowledge of the Amazon taught her that the predatory creatures were unlikely to be in the centre of the river, which is where she swam. However, under the beating sun, Juliane suffered intense second-degree burns which broke her skin. With every day that passed, having consumed little more than a packet of sweets since the crash, she became weaker and weaker. After 10 days of surviving alone, Juliane found a small boat which was docked by what looked like a human trail. She described using all her strength to climb to shore and follow the trail up an incline which took hours, to reach a small shack. Still there was no one in sight, so she spent the night there, hoping to be found by humans. The following day, January 3, 1972, Juliane was finally discovered by three fishermen who found her in the shack and helped her to safety. After her rescue, Juliane learnt that she was the sole remaining survivor of the LANSA crash. A total of 91 people had been killed, including Maria. She went on to help rescue teams locate the wreckage of the plane and the bodies of the victims, before relocating to her parents' native country of Germany, where she made a full recovery. In the immediate years following the crash, Juliane did not speak to the media about her ordeal. However, in 1998 filmmaker Werner Herzog made a film about her experience - a process in which she was involved. Wings of Hope, a documentary about Juliane's incredible survival story, saw the mammalogist travel back to the Amazon for the first time and revisit the crash site. As she flew with Herzog and her husband, Erich Diller, Juliane occupied the same seat on the flight, 19F, that she had sat in years before when LANSA flight 508 crashed. She told the filmmaker how she has lost trust in pilots since the terrifying incident and 'listen[s] out for every noise' on planes now. Michelle Dussan Michelle Dussan describes her life as 'perfect' until a fateful flight in December 1995 when she and her family were due to travel to Colombia for the first time - which would be then six-year-old Michelle's first plane journey. However the Dussans, from New Jersey, only barely made the American Airlines flight, after rushing to the airport in Miami amid chaos on the roads. Writing about her first ever flight in the Guardian, Michelle recalled how she bickered with her 13-year-old brother about who would take the window seat in the row; before he stormed off and went to sit elsewhere on the plane with their cousin. Michelle's memory of the catastrophe that killed almost her entire family in a total of 159 casualties ends at that argument, but her father Gonzalo remembers the chaos that ensued when the plane came into difficulty; as the aircraft shook violently, the lights went off and passengers began to scream. The flight, which had been bound for the Colombian city of Calí, crashed into a mountain near Buga. Michelle wrote: 'When I woke up, I was really thirsty. I was screaming for help in Spanish and my dad was trying to get me out of the wreckage, but I was in a lot of pain and couldn't move. 'I didn't know it at the time, but I was buried underground from my waist down and had been stuck, with my seatbelt on, for 13 hours.' She added she still has seatbelt marks on her legs from the crash, out of which only four people survived including Michelle and Gonzalo. Eventually, the mountain rescue team found the survivors and Michelle was airlifted to hospital; but all she could think about during the journey was her mother, who had died in the crash. She recalled asking for her mother several times, but Michelle's family insisted she was simply 'on a trip' and would return. After receiving treatment in hospital, Michelle and her father Gonzalo went to her uncle's house in Colombia to stay with the family while they worked through the shock and trauma of what happened to them. Michelle recalled having therapy to cope with frequent nightmares, which caused her to wake up sweating and in tears as she slept next to her father. She also revealed how the injury to her legs in the crash left her in a wheelchair for several years, during which time she could only walk with braces. 'The doctors told my dad I would never walk again. The whole process of getting my nerves back in my legs was very painful. It's definitely a miracle that I can walk again now,' she said. In the months after the crash, Michelle and Gonzalo moved back to New Jersey; but Michelle struggled to concentrate on her studies and now recalls how she frequently cried. She credits her faith with being able to overcome her trauma. For years, both Michelle and Gonzalo were told that the plane crashed because of a pilot error. But in 2021 an ex pilot Tristan Loraine made a documentary called American 965, which explored the possibility there was a longstanding fault on the type of aircraft they flew on. Both father and daughter have credited Tristan's theory with bringing them 'closure' as they look to move on from the horrific trauma of the crash they survived. Annette Herfkens Annette Herfkens, a trader working for Santander in Madrid, didn't want to board the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to the coast of Vietnam in November 1992. She was claustrophobic and the plane was tiny, carrying only 25 passengers. But her fiancé Willem van der Pas encouraged her to take a leap of faith because it was only "a 20 minute flight" - a fib he told to calm her fears. However, 40 minutes into the flight, Van der Pas took his fiancée's hand and admitted he didn't like the movement the plane was experiencing as it dropped sharply. That was the last thing Annette remembered before everything went black. When she woke up, she was in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle with the dead body of a fellow passenger on top of her. Van der Pas was a little further away, but he had died too. Speaking to the Guardian about her ordeal, Annette, from the Netherlands but now living in New York, said she cannot recall how she escaped from the wreckage but explained her body had gone into 'fight or flight' mode - at which point she chose 'flight'. When she now speaks about her ordeal, Annette presumes her lack of memory is a form of 'self protection' after seeing her fiancé's dead body and experiencing horrific injuries. She had a collapsed lung, her jaw was hanging, and she had 12 broken bones in her hip and knee. Annette recalled hearing other survivors crying out among the wreckage; but these noises slowly faded throughout her eight days in the Vietnamese jungle as they too passed away from their injuries. Surprisingly, the images of the jungle that are imprinted in her mind are actually now a space of solace for Annette, who envisions the landscape when she meditates. She explained that, although it was the site of a catastrophic crash from which she was the only survivor, and it was also ridden with predators, she did not at any point think she would die in the jungle. Annette recalls reaching a state of mindfulness (before it was named so) by focusing on her breathing as it dawned on her that her partner had died. 'I had never been so entirely alone. I panicked,' she said, explaining that her collapsed lung made it difficult to breathe. She was eventually rescued by authorities and taken to hospital in Vietnam. Annette remained in the east Asian nation for three months after the crash before flying back to Madrid where she resumed life as normal. Years passed and Annette found love again, with her colleague Jamie Lupa. The couple moved to New York and had two sons; but despite embarking upon a new life, Annette's remarkable survival story became the main topic of conversation at school gates and dinner parties. She has since gone on to write a book about her story, Turbulence: A True Story of Survival, which documents how she beat the odds to become the only survivor of the horrific crash. It also tells how she used her coping and survival skills to cope with further adversity in her life; including her son Max's autism diagnosis. Her trauma can be triggered by small things like someone ordering Vietnamese food and now tries to sit in the front row on any flight she takes after being haunted by the body of a fellow passenger on top of her after the crash. Annette still mourns for her late fiancé and says the grief is 'an every day thing' she has learnt to live with, and marks the anniversary of his death every year. Richard Laver Richard Laver was just 12 years old when he boarded a Delta flight from Florida to California with his father on August 2, 1985. He was set to compete in a tennis tournament in LA and his father was accompanying him. But when the plane was due to land in its first stop of Dallas-Fort Worth, it was caught in a huge storm. The aircraft crashed during its first attempt to land, killing 137 passengers including Richard's father. Describing himself as a 'hyper aware' child, Richard recounted to Business Insider how he had been nervous about the flight in the days leading up to his journey and thought something bad would happen. When the plane hit the eye of the storm and he could see lightning out his window, he went to the toilet and splashed cold water on his face to calm himself down. Richard's instincts were proved right when the plane was hit significantly by a windshear as it landed, which propelled the aircraft into a water tower before it exploded in flames. Richard suffered significant injuries in the crash including a lacerated stomach, second and third degree burns, a fractured neck and broken arms and kneecaps and a collapsed lung. He was one of 26 survivors in the crash; but the consequences of the trauma stayed with him into his teenage years. Richard suffered from PTSD and questioned why he had survived when so many people, including his father, had died. He struggled to shower as the sound of the water reminded him of the rain in the storm. By the age of 27, Richard found himself homeless and slept on a beach for a month. 'I'd swim hundreds of yards from the shore every day at sunset. I hoped that a shark would take me. I was scared of nothing — apart from having hope again,' he recalled. But Richard underwent a mindset shift when he realised nothing he endured in life would ever be as painful as the crash that killed his father. He turned his life around and married his wife, Michelle; and the pair started a family. Their youngest daughter Katie has cerebral palsy and was severely underweight until the age of five when Richard invented a plant-based formula to give her the nourishment she needed. He then developed his idea into a business, Kate Farms, in 2012. Later, his son Hunter bought him a bracelet which read 'Lucky F***' - which gave Richard the inspiration for his next business, an energy drinks company of the same name.
The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘I saw people dying in front of my eyes' – lone Air India plane crash survivor
The British survivor of the Air India plane crash has spoken of the horror of watching people 'dying in front of my eyes'. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh told DD News 'I still can't believe how I survived' as he spoke from his hospital bed on Friday. The 40-year-old told the broadcaster the plane felt like it was 'stuck in the air' shortly after take-off before lights began flickering green and white – adding: 'It suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.' The Boeing 787 Dreamliner struck a medical college as it crashed in a fireball on Thursday, killing the other 241 people on board. It is one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British nationals killed, and the first involving a 787. Speaking to DD News about the crash, Mr Ramesh said: 'I can't believe how I came out of it alive. '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.' Mr Ramesh was in seat 11A, next to one of the aircraft's emergency exits. Addressing what happened before the incident, Mr Ramesh told the broadcaster: 'When the flight took off, within five to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air. 'Suddenly, the lights started flickering – green and white. 'The aircraft wasn't gaining altitude and was just gliding before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.' He added: 'At first, I thought I was dead. 'Later, I realised I was still alive and saw an opening in the fuselage. 'I managed to unbuckle myself, used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out.' Commenting on his survival, Mr Ramesh said: 'I don't know how I survived. 'I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me … I walked out of the rubble.' The crash site was visited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, with video footage showing him talking to Mr Ramesh in hospital. There are fears the number of people killed on the ground could rise. Investigations are continuing into the cause of the crash. At least five medical students were killed and about 50 injured. British couple Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, who run a spiritual wellness centre, were said to be among the dead. Mr Greenlaw-Meek appeared on ITV's This Morning earlier this year and former editor of the show Martin Frizell praised his 'vibrancy' and 'enthusiasm'. Tributes have also been paid to Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa and their four-year-old daughter Sara who were reportedly among the victims. Imam Abdullah, who spoke on behalf of their family, said: 'We are heartbroken as we await further information regarding our beloved family members who were on board the Air India flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick. 'The news of this tragic incident has left us devastated, and we are still coming to terms with the enormity of what has happened.' Raj Mishra, the mayor of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, called for people to come together as he announced the deaths of 'Raxa Modha, infant Rudra Modha, and Ms K Mistri' in his constituency. Aviation experts have speculated about the possible causes of the crash, from both engines failing – possibly due to a bird strike, as happened in the so-called Miracle on the Hudson in 2009 – to the flaps on the aircraft's wings not being set to the correct position for take-off. Images taken after the incident showed part of the plane embedded in the BJ Medical College building. At least five medical students were killed and about 50 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. Tata Group, the parent company of Air India, said it would provide 10 million rupees (around £86,000) to the families of each of those killed in the crash. The company said it would also cover the medical costs of the injured and provide support in the 'building up' of the medical college. 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. He told reporters it was 'way too premature' to ground Boeing 787s in the aftermath of the crash. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said any British nationals requiring consular assistance, or who have concerns about family or friends, should call 020 7008 5000.
