Ahmedabad: The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash said his escape was a combination of fortune and quick decision in identifying a crucial space amid the wreckage and acting on his reflexes.
Speaking to HT a day after the aviation disaster, 38-year-old Viswash Kumar Ramesh, an Indian-origin British national said his seat, 11A, was close to an emergency door on the left side of the ill-fated plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
“Everything was over in 30 seconds after the flight took off. I don’t know how I survived. There were bodies and pieces of plane scattered everywhere. For a moment, I thought I was going to die. But I decided not to look back and keep going,” Ramesh, who is undergoing treatment in the trauma centre of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, said on Friday.
Sharing vivid details about his narrow escape, Ramesh said, “Luckily, the portion of the plane where I was seated fell on the ground floor of the hostel premises after the plane crash landed. When I saw that the door of the plane was broken, I told myself ‘I can try and get out’. Eventually, I got out of the plane.”
“I believe that others could not escape because there was a wall on that side (of the hostel) while there was a small gap where I was sitting. I still can’t believe how I survived the crash because I saw people dying in front of my eyes,” Ramesh recounted.
{{/usCountry}}“I believe that others could not escape because there was a wall on that side (of the hostel) while there was a small gap where I was sitting. I still can’t believe how I survived the crash because I saw people dying in front of my eyes,” Ramesh recounted.
{{/usCountry}}Ramesh suffered burns and bruises and has been kept under observation. “He is not in a serious condition. He has few minor injuries in his eyes, chest, lips and his right leg. He has also got minor burns on his left hand,” said a medical official attending him.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, former civil aviation minister Praful Patel and Guajrat chief minister Bhupendrabhai Patel have met him in the last 24 hours.