Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah meets British plane crash survivor Viswashkumar Ramesh at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India. (Ministry of Home Affairs India via AP)
The sole survivor of the Air India crash that killed 241 people on board can’t believe he’s alive.
“Everything happened in front of my eyes. I thought I would die,” Viswashkumar Ramesh told India’s national broadcaster from his hospital bed Friday. “When I opened my eyes, I saw I was alive.”
Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin and father of one, was in seat 11A on the flight from Ahmedabad, India, to London, which crashed shortly after takeoff at 1:39 p.m. local time on Thursday.
Ramesh had been visiting family and was returning to the U.K. with his brother, who was seated in a different row.
What happened after takeoff
The rear of the Air India plane sticks out of a building in Ahmedabad following Thursday’s deadly crash. (Central Industrial Security Force via X via Reuters)
Moments after takeoff, Ramesh said, the lights inside the plane “started flickering green and white.”
He said the plane seemed to get stuck before it accelerated, and seemed unable to gain height before it crashed.
Video posted to social media shows the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner slowly descending, disappearing into a residential area near the airport.
Officials said the plane hit a dining facility at a medical college building. At least five medical students were killed, and 50 others were injured.
Photos taken from the crash site show the tail of the aircraft sticking out near the top of a building.
How Ramesh says he survived
A fire official at the crash site on Friday. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
Ramesh said his section of the plane landed near the ground floor.
“The side where I was seated fell into the ground floor of the building,” he said. “There was some space. When the door broke, I saw that space and I just jumped out.”
Another video posted to social media shows Ramesh walking toward an ambulance with smoke billowing in the background.
Ramesh sustained burn injuries on his left hand. A hospital official told the Associated Press that Ramesh “was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body” but “seems to be out of danger.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site on Friday and met with the sole survivor.
“I still can’t believe how I survived,” Ramesh said. “I walked out of the rubble.”
What caused the crash?
A police officer stands in front of debris and wreckage left by the crash. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
It’s unclear what caused the crash.
Authorities said Friday that the digital flight data recorder, or black box, was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site.
Investigators from the United States and the United Kingdom are assisting Indian officials in the probe.
According to the Aviation Safety Network database, this is the first crash ever involving a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
ABC News reported that this particular plane had more than 41,000 hours of flying time, which is considered average for this aircraft.
Air India confirmed that 229 passengers and 12 crew members were killed in the crash. According to the airline, there were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian on the flight.
“I would like to express our deepest sorrow for this event,” Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said in a video message. “This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India and our efforts are focused entirely on the needs of the passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones.”
