“Miracle” escape for one passenger who walked away from Indian plane crash

In an astonishing development which followed the horrifying Air India plane crash, it has emerged that one man not only survived, but he actually simply walked away from the wreckage.

British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was sat in seat 11A on the massive Boeing 787-8 Dream-liner flight which had just taken off from Ahmedabad International Airport in western India, when it inexplicably fell to the ground. 

Everyone of the remaining 241 people on board are believed to have died in the explosive impact resulting in a giant fireball, including 11 children (2 of them newborns) although at this stage only 204 bodies have been retrieved from the crash site.

Walked away from scene of carnage

Indian media spoke with possibly the luckiest man to be alive on the planet today. British national, Ramesh Viswashkumar seemingly got away by jumping out of an emergency window. 

He told local reporters that about thirty seconds after take-off there was a loud noise and then the plane just began to fall. “It all happened so quickly,” he said. 

Unbelievable escape

Reliving the nightmare, the 38-year-old – who is married with a child – explained how when he got up he was surrounded by bodies. 

He said there were pieces of the plane all around him: “Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital”.

Brother on same flight

He appears to have had miraculous escape, with just a few cuts and bruises to his face, and a slight injury to his chest, when all around him was complete carnage. 

Sadly his brother was on the same flight, but sat in a different row. There is no news on him, but he is unlikely to have survived.

A relative who lives in Leicester, near the city of Derby in the East Midlands of England, said Vishwash had called the family and said he was “fine”, which seems a remarkably casual response after such a terrifying experience.

Fuselage stuck in medical college

Ahmedabad is the main city of India’s Gujarat state, and is home to around eight million people; its busy airport surrounded by densely packed residential areas. 

The plane fell on one of those areas and in particular the premises of BJ Medical College. The stricken plane crashed into the five-storey residential quarters of the college, with remnants of the fuselage and the landing gear later 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.

Pilots named

The names of the two pilots have been confirmed as Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar.

Aviation experts say that the pilots of Air India Flight 171 may have suddenly lost power at the most critical phase of flight, immediately after take-off. 

Possible causes include a bird strike, leading to a double engine stall. Officials from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are now at the scene to carry out an analysis of the wreckage and retrieve the stricken jet’s black box.

Flight data indicates several possible issues

Lt. Col. John R. Davidson, a former US Air Force pilot and commercial aviation safety consultant, said the plane appeared to have reached take-off speed but not altitude, according to flight data.

He felt there were a number of possible scenarios: thrust or engine performance issues, bird strike, excessive aircraft weight, poor trim or flap configuration, or a more critical failure that affected the aircraft’s ability to climb, were some of his theories. 

Compensation already announced

Tata Group, which owns Air India, has promised to compensate the families of each person who was killed in the crash to the tune of 1 crore rupees, which is the equivalent of around £86,000 and will cover the medical expenses of those injured.

They have also committed to provide support for rebuilding the medical hostel that was hit. “No words can adequately express the grief we feel at this moment,” it said in a statement.