"Heard Loud Noise 30 Seconds Into Flight": Air India Dreamliner Crash Survivor

NDTV

21 hours ago

New Delhi:
An Indian-origin British national survived the Air India plane crash in Gujarat's Ahmedabad today, officials have said. Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik told news agency ANI that the survivor was found in seat No. 11A. He has been admitted to a hospital.
The British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was returning to the UK with his brother Ajay Kumar Rakesh, 45, who was in a different row inside the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Mr Ramesh told Hindustan Times newspaper that he heard a loud noise about 30 seconds after taking off and the plane crashed.
"Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly," he told the newspaper from hospital.
He suffered injuries on his chest. Mr Ramesh has appealed to find his brother.
His relatives said he told them that he has "no idea" how he escaped from the burning plane, indicating severe trauma from the experience.
"We were just shocked as soon as we heard it," his brother Nayan Kumar, 27, said outside their family home in Leicester. He said Vishwash Kumar told him after the crash, "'I have no idea how I exited the plane'."
The Air India flight going to London was carrying 242 passengers. It was loaded with fuel for the long flight to Britain. It crashed into a hostel for doctors of a medical college after flying for 32 seconds. At least five were killed in the hostel, officials said, adding the casualties may rise.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the plane was filled with 1 lakh litre of aviation turbine fuel, and the fire was so intense that rescue was difficult.
The aircraft was under the command of captain Sumeet Sabharwal with first officer Clive Kundar. Mr Sabharwal had 8,200 hours of experience, while the copilot had 1,100 hours of flying experience.
The pilot made a mayday call just before the plane went down.
A new video captured by a CCTV camera in Ahmedabad airport shows the Air India plane gaining speed on the runway before taking off, and to the naked eye everything seemed fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Seconds later, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner - one of the most reliable passenger aircraft in the world - took off. It was uneventful until then.
The next few seconds, however, indicated the plane could be in trouble as it did not gain the altitude usually expected of a passenger aircraft of this size and type.
It flew level for a few more seconds before losing altitude. By then the visuals said it loud and clear - the flight was not going to make it.