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Air India Crash Survivor Breaks Silence, Shares Harrowing Escape From Boeing
Funeral services and rituals are being held for the loved ones of those who perished in the sad Air India airline disaster by their family and friends.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, is the only survivor and is talking to the media about the terrifying experience after just made public video showed him leaving the burning scene.
Ramesh informs Doordarshan TV, the Indian State broadcaster, in an interview from his hospital bed that he just left the scene of the incident.
“I saw an opening, so I got out”: Vishwash Kumar Ramesh talks to media about what happened
The pictures are terrifying. Smoke rises, an explosion, and a plane crashing to the ground.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is the only person who survived the crash, which many are calling a miracle. He recently shared his story from his hospital bedside in a couple separate appearances with DD TV, the Indian state media outlet.
Ramesh explained that he wasn’t certain he was still alive following the initial impact. When he opened his eyes, the plane was in ruins and he was sitting in the emergency row.
At that point, his instincts kicked in. “When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was alive. So I tried to open my seat belt, and I was able to get out,” he said.
Despite being in an emergency row, Ramesh told DD TV that he didn’t need to open the emergency door because it was already damaged. He claimed that he simply shoved it aside and left the plane.
“My seat was broken, the door was broken. I saw an opening, so I just got out,” he explained.
The lone crash survivor was born in India, but has lived in the U.K. since 2003
According to the media, Viswash Kumar Ramesh is a 40-year-old British national who resides in London with his spouse and child. He was born in India, according to the BBC, but has resided in England since 2003.
He was on the aeroplane with his brother, Ajay, who also perished. According to the media, he and his brother were on their way back to the United Kingdom from a visit to relatives in India.
It is anticipated that Ramesh would be discharged from the hospital in the coming days. He has minor scratches and bruises, but nothing that could kill him. Physicians anticipate a full recovery.
In addition to television reporters, Ramesh welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a very special guest. Modi visited the hospital to speak with Ramesh while he was there to meet with the families of the victims.
Medical officials are having trouble identifying AI171 victims due to the intense flames
According to officials, 279 people have died in the tragedy so far, both on the plane and on the ground, but that figure is predicted to continue to rise.
241 people have died on board the aircraft, including the crew and passengers, while many more have died inside the medical school dorm where the plane crashed, where lunch was being eaten.
Search and rescue crews told the media that it has been challenging to identify the victims. This is because many of the victims’ bodies were probably burned by the powerful fires and explosions that followed the collision.
Medical officials informed relatives that preliminary results indicated that “temperatures at the crash site had reached 1,500 degrees Celsius, or 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit,” according to the New York Times.
Over the weekend, HP Sanghvi, the director of the Gandhinagar Forensic Science Laboratory, addressed the media about the challenging nature of their upcoming work.
“These high temperatures affect the DNA present in various parts of the body,” Mr. Sanghvi said. “The entire process—from collecting DNA samples of victims and their families to final matching—is being carried out 24/7,” he said.
“The plane was stuck”: Ramesh describes flight as search for black boxes continues
Along with the arduous effort of identifying the dead, investigators and transportation officials are working to ascertain the cause of the terrible accident of Air India flight AI171, which occurred around 30 seconds after takeoff on June 12th.
Survivor Vishwash Kumar Rameshhas told officials that within a few seconds of taking off, it felt like, “the plane was stuck in the air”, Ramesh said.
Former pilots and aviation specialists have been making assumptions about what could have happened; some have suggested pilot mistake or perhaps other sinister reasons.
Shortly before the crash, the captain is known to have called for help from the control tower.
However, the two so-called “black boxes” must be found before the true answer can be determined. These are the flight data recorder and the voice recorder in the cockpit of the aircraft. Officials should be able to determine whether the collision was caused by human error, mechanical failure, or a mix of the two using these two pieces of equipment.
“We left the airport in frustration”: Bhoomi Chauhan missed flight AI171 by 10 minutes
Even though Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the sole survivor, other accounts of near-misses are coming to light. Those who did not catch the flight for whatever reason are still living to share their story.
One is Bhoomi Chauhan, who was upset and disappointed about losing the flight, according to the BBC. She arrived at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport ten minutes after boarding because she was caught in traffic.
She was upset when she was informed at the gate that she was not allowed to board the aircraft.
“I requested airline staff to allow me inside as I am only 10 minutes [late]. I told them that I am the last passenger and so please allow me to board the plane, but they did not allow me,” Chauhan told the BBC.
She said, “We got very angry with our driver and left the airport in frustration,” she recalls. “I was very disappointed.”
The 28-year-old is obviously counting her blessings now.
View the interview with the survivor below:
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