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Indian Express
11-07-2025
- Indian Express
From a bustling hostel campus to blackened shells of concrete: A month later, at ‘AI 171 Ground Zero' in Ahmedabad
It's 1.30pm on a cloudless, scorching afternoon in Ahmedabad's Meghaninagar. A heavy pall hangs in the air around the burnt shells of hostel buildings of the BJ Medical College — the site where 260 lives were lost around the same time a month ago, when Air India flight 171 crashed into the mess while the students were having their lunch. Soon after the crash on June 12, the premises were teeming with people: Rescue workers, relatives of the victims, curious onlookers. A month on, only charred remains of trees that caught fire in the crash give some inkling of life that the premises were bustling with until a month ago. A tag on Google Map marks the mess building, where the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's tail was stuck for days after the crash, as 'AI 0171 Ground Zero'. The four hostel buildings, Atulyam 1-4, lie blackened and abandoned, awaiting their fate with their former occupants – the medical students – being moved to other campuses. Police personnel guarding the site are the only people that could be seen in the area. The crash site has been secured by the Gujarat Police for the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The debris of the Dreamliner is in a secure hangar on the premises of the Ahmedabad airport just 6.6 km away, where it was moved two weeks after the crash. Around 150 medical students and doctors who used to reside in the Atulyam hostels on the IGP compound – the premises used to earlier house the office of the police chief – have now been moved to other accommodations. With most of them putting up in the group of hostel buildings right next to the crash site, their line of sight is a daily reminder of the colleagues they lost. Four medical students were among the ground casualties of the crash. The Indian AAIB, which has been working on its investigation at the crash site along with partner investigators from the UK and the US, recently submitted a preliminary report to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Jaypalsingh Rathore, the Additional Commissioner of Police (Sector-2), told The Indian Express, 'The AAIB has almost completed its work at the site and is likely to release it (the report) by next week. Once they write to us stating that the security cordon is no longer required, we will release the bandobast.' The aircraft, bound for London Gatwick, crashed at around 1.38 pm on June 12, less than a minute after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Of the 242 people aboard the aircraft, 241 lost their lives while British national Viswash Kumar Ramesh survived the crash. A total of 19 people died on the ground, including those on the hostel premises and on the road outside it. Some of them perished on the spot, others died during treatment at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. At the crash site, the overhead section of the mess building's terrace can be seen damaged and leaning to one side. On the other side, a gaping hole remains where the tail of the aircraft had been left hanging after the crash, before it was removed on June 22. Regarding the future of this crash site, officials at Medicity, under whose aegis the medical college comes, told The Indian Express that while there was major damage to the mess building, and Atulyam hostels 1-4 had gone up in flames with most of the aircraft crashing right next to them, Atulyam 8 had remained completely unaffected. During the rescue operations, Atulyam 8 was used as a base of operations for the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). It has now been handed over to the medical college. BJMC Dean Dr Minakshi Parikh told The Indian Express, 'The students have been relocated to other hostels on the campus. We also took some rooms on rent and moved a few students there.' To make up for the damaged mess, a new one has been set up in the Sopanam 7 and Sopanam 8 hostel buildings next door. 'We vacated the canteens from there and turned them into a mess. We set up 27 kitchens, gave them new utensils and one month's provisions as well,' said Dr Parikh. After the crash site is released by AAIB, the structural integrity of the four damaged Atulyam hostel buildings will have to be assessed by experts. The government will then take a call on whether they can be retrofitted or must be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. The medical college, meanwhile, resumed classes on June 23 and held a prayer meeting for the deceased on June 24. Exams were held two days later. Dr Parikh told The Indian Express that remedial exams would be held for around eight students who could not take them. Writers would be provided to those needing them, Dr Parikh added. Earlier, The Indian Express had reported about grief counselling sessions the college held for students. On the main road outside the Atulyam hostels, there are three police pickets. One is on the main Ghoda Camp road just opposite the gate of the 1,200-bed Woman, Child and Super-specialty Hospital. The second one is next to the main gate of the National Institute of Occupational Health (ICMR-NIOH), which stands exactly opposite the affected hostel buildings. This is the point from where vehicle entry is barred. There are more than 100 police personnel deployed along the perimeter of the crash site and at the hangar of the Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Limited (GujSAIL) at the airport, said Additional CP Rathore. Rathore said, 'We mainly had curious locals coming to see the aircraft besides relatives of the victims arriving to pay their respects. Also, medical students came to salvage their belongings. The main problem, of curious onlookers, persisted for about 15 days when we had to maintain the sanctity of the site for investigation. There was heavy security in the initial two weeks, which was scaled down after barricades were put up.' After days of deploying a police vehicle to guard a wall breach near Gujarat Housing Board apartments in Meghaninagar, which would give access to the site, the broken section has been sealed with metal sheets. The third police picket is at the main gate of the hostel compound where watchman Rajendra Patankar of the Gujarat Industrial Security Force (GISF) was injured and later died during treatment. This is the same gate from which crash survivor Ramesh walked out in a daze, before he was ushered into an ambulance.
Observer
21-06-2025
- General
- Observer
Is there a safest seat in a plane crash?
By Gabe Castro-Root Suddenly, airline passengers around the world are wondering if there is something special about Seat 11A. That's where Viswash Kumar Ramesh, 38, the sole survivor of the Air India Boeing 787-8 that crashed after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India, last week, was sitting. Did the location of his seat help spare his life? Probably not, aviation experts said. There's nothing that makes that or any other seat safer than anywhere else on a plane and they added, it's usually not worth trying to game out safety when selecting where to sit for a flight. 'If you're in a crash, all bets are off,' said Jeff Guzzetti, a former accident investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board. 'So pick whatever seat you want to make you feel comfortable.' While conventional wisdom holds that the rear of an aircraft may be safer, that theory falsely assumes that the front of a plane will always make impact first in the event of a crash, Guzzetti said. 'You just can't predict crash dynamics.' Airlines use different configurations for different aircraft. On that Air India flight, Seat 11A was in an exit row on the left side, according to a seat map on SeatGuru. Sitting near an exit may allow passengers to escape more quickly in some circumstances, but Ramesh told India's state broadcaster that the right side of the aircraft was 'crushed against a wall,' preventing anyone else who may have survived the initial impact from escaping through the exit on that side. In an emergency like a fire, when 'you're still sitting on your landing gear and the airplane is pretty much upright and intact,' an exit row may offer the quickest path to safety, Guzzetti said. 'But with regard to the crash dynamics of an accident like Air India, I think it's just a matter of chance.' Shawn Pruchnicki, a former accident investigator at the Air Line Pilots Association and an assistant professor of aviation safety at Ohio State University, chalked up Ramesh's survival to 'purely luck.' 'In these types of accidents people just don't survive this close to the front, this close to fuel,' Pruchnicki said, referring to the fact that the fuel tanks on a Boeing 787 are mainly on the wings and in the fuselage between them. The crash last week was the latest in a string of recent aviation disasters around the globe, including a midair collision in Washington in January; and crashes in South Korea and Kazakhstan in December, that have raised fears among some travellers about the safety of flying. Aviation experts say flying remains safe and that crashes, though high-profile, remain very rare. — The New York Times BLURB Seat 11A is where Viswash Kumar Ramesh, 38, the sole survivor of the Air India Boeing 787-8 that crashed after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India, last week, was sitting. Did the location of his seat help spare his life? Probably not, aviation experts said.
Mint
20-06-2025
- Mint
Air India crash: Demand for emergency exit seats surges, flyers want to book ‘11A' after Ahmedabad tragedy
Belief in destiny or just peace of mind? Passengers scramble to book the same seat occupied by the sole survivor of a recent Air India crash. Demand for seat 11A on flights has soared across India after it emerged that the only survivor of last week's Air India Flight 171 crash was seated there, The Times of India reported. The seat, located next to an emergency exit on some aircraft, has now taken on an almost mythical status, with passengers requesting it regardless of safety data or seat configuration. 'It has to be a seat next to the emergency exit. I am willing to fork out any extra amount for it,' said Jitender Singh Bagga, a businessman preparing for a flight to the United States, speaking to the news outlet. 'If seat 11A is next to the emergency door of the British Airways flight I intend to take… I want to be in it.' The renewed interest comes after Viswash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, walked away with minor injuries from the crash that claimed 241 lives. Ramesh was seated in 11A, adjacent to an emergency exit, and was seen in widely circulated footage staggering away from the wreckage while speaking on his phone. His miraculous escape has sparked a wave of superstition-fueled behavior among travelers. 'I know that life and death is a matter of destiny, but I still want to have my best shot,' said Rajesh Bhagnani, a Kolkata resident, was quoted as saying. 'Nothing like seat 11A if there is an emergency exit next to it.' According to Anil Punjabi, a national committee member of the Travel Agents Federation of India, some fliers are even asking for seat 11A regardless of where it's located on the aircraft. 'It has got to do with mindset and belief in luck. The fliers say it is for their peace of mind,' explained Anjani Dhanuka, regional chairman of the Travel Agents Association of India, in his remarks. 'The seat number offers mental peace,' he added. Ramesh, who was discharged from an Ahmedabad hospital on Wednesday, has not spoken publicly since the crash, but his story continues to reverberate in the public imagination — and on travel booking sites. For some passengers, seat 11A now represents more than just a seat — it's a symbol of hope, luck, and the human instinct to do whatever it takes to survive. Adding to the mystique around seat 11A is a chilling coincidence shared by Thai actor-singer Ruangsak 'James' Loychusak, who revealed he was also seated in 11A when he survived the 1998 Thai Airways crash in Surat Thani that killed 101 people. Now 47, Ruangsak said he got goosebumps upon learning that Viswash Kumar Ramesh — the sole survivor of the recent Air India tragedy — had also been in seat 11A.
New York Post
18-06-2025
- New York Post
Demand for ‘lucky' seat 11A surges after deadly Air India crash that saw lone survivor: ‘Willing to fork out any extra amount for it'
Demand for the 'lucky' seat 11A has surged in recent days — after a man sitting in the seat was the only one to miraculously survive last week's Air India crash, according to travel agents. The sharp rise comes despite aviation experts warning that the specific seat — which is next to an emergency exit — has no proven safety advantages. 'It has to be a seat next to the emergency exit. I am willing to fork out any extra amount for it,' businessman Jitender Singh Bagga told the Times of India ahead of his planned flight to the US this week. 'If seat 11A is next to the emergency door of the British Airways flight I intend to take … I want to be in it,' he added. 'I know that life and death is a matter of destiny, but I still want to have my best shot. Nothing like seat 11A if there is an emergency exit next to it,' Kolkata resident Rajesh Bhagnani added. Some passengers are opting for seat 11A even if it isn't next to an emergency exit, believing it to be lucky, according to travel agents. 6 Demand for the seat number used by the sole survivor of last week's Air India crash, Viswash Kumar Ramesh, has surged in recent days. NARENDRA MODI YOUTUBE CHANNEL/AFP via Getty Images 'It has got to do with mindset and belief in luck. The fliers say it is for their peace of mind,' Anjani Dhanuka, regional chairman of the Travel Agents Association of India, said. The seat number offered 'mental peace,' he added. 6 Ramesh was the only person to survive last week's crash in the city of Ahmedabad. REUTERS Viswash Kumar Ramesh was sitting in seat 11A when Flight 171 bound for London Gatwick crashed shortly after takeoff from the Indian city of Ahmedabad last Thursday. Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, remarkably survived the crash with only minor injuries while his brother, who was sat next to him, was one of the 242 passengers and crew on board who died in the aviation disaster. He escaped through the emergency door and was seen walking away from the crash scene in a daze on the phone in shocking footage. On Wednesday, Ramesh was discharged from the hospital in Ahmedabad. On Wednesday, he helped carry his dead brother's casket in India while sporting bandages on his face. 6 Aviation experts have warned seat 11A has no increased safety odds. Koki Takagi via REUTERS 6 Ramesh walked away from the crash with only minor injuries while his brother sat next to him was killed. Desire for 'lucky' 11A is also being driven by an eerie coincidence. Thai actor-singer Ruangsak Loychusak claimed to have sat in the same seat when he survived an aircraft crash in southern Thailand in December 1998. 6 The plane came down moments after take off en route to London. via REUTERS A total of 101 people died when Thai Airways flight 261 crashed into a swamp. 'This seat will be very difficult to reserve in the future,' one follower commented under Ruangsak's post. 6 Ramesh's ticket from the fateful flight showing his seat number 11A. However, a total of 45 passengers and crew survived the crash, undercutting the claims of 'lucky' seat 11A. 'In this particular instance, because the passenger was sitting adjacent to the emergency exit, this was obviously the safest seat on the day,' Ron Bartsch, chairman at AvLaw Aviation Consulting, told the Independent. 'But it's not always 11A, it's just 11A on this configuration of the Boeing 787.'
South China Morning Post
18-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Air India crash leads to surge in demand for ‘lucky' seat 11A after miraculous survival
Demand for 'lucky' seat 11A has spiked following the lone survivor's miraculous escape in the fatal Air India crash – despite aviation experts warning that the specific seat number does not offer any proven safety advantage. Advertisement Travel agents have reported a sharp surge in passenger inquiries about seat 11A, where Viswash Kumar Ramesh was sitting when the London-bound aircraft crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off. The 40-year-old British national was the lone survivor among the 242 passengers and crew members on board. On Wednesday, he was discharged from Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, six days after the disaster that killed his brother. Ramesh's unlikely escape is now reshaping how travellers choose their seats, according to The Times of India newspaper. When he flies to the United States from New Delhi this week, businessman Jitender Singh Bagga asked to be seated next to an emergency exit. Advertisement 'It has to be a seat next to the emergency exit,' he said. 'I am willing to fork out any extra amount for it. If seat 11A is next to the emergency door of the British Airways flight I intend to take … I want to be in it.'
