Viswashkumar Ramesh miraculously survived the Air India Flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad yesterday in which 265 people died. A British national, he was seated in 11A, next to the emergency door on the left side of the aircraft.
He said, “It was a usual flight, but just about 10 seconds after takeoff things changed completely. It felt as if the plane was stuck. Then there were green and white lights on the plane. The pilot tried to race it but it crashes with a lot of speed.”
Narrating his experience, Vishwaskumar said, “At first, I thought I was also about to die. Later, I realised I was still alive and saw an opening in the fuselage near my seat. I managed to unbuckle myself. I used my leg to push through that opening and crawled out.”
He went on to add, “Everyone around me was either dead or dying. I still don’t understand how I escaped.”
The area where Ramesh was seated suffered lesser damage in the initial blast. Since the damage was less, it made his exit possible. His brother Ajaykumar Ramesh was seated across the aisle in 11J. Even he couldn’t make it.
The flight minutes after taking off. Investigators have recovered one of the two black boxes near the crash site. It’s called the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR. Search in on for the second black box, the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).
Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani also lost his life. He was going to London to meet his daughter.
