(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The lone survivor of the Air India Flight 171 crash shared harrowing details of how he escaped as the plane burst into flames and killed at least 290 people on Thursday.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old Briton of Indian descent, told Indian state-owned DD News from his hospital bed that he made it out of the plane through a broken emergency exit.
“I can’t believe how I came out of it alive,” Ramesh said, according to the outlet. “For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too but when I opened my eyes and looked around, I realized I was alive. I still can’t believe how I survived.”
Ramesh recounted that shortly after taking off, the plane felt “stuck in the air” before “the lights started flickering—green and white.”
“The aircraft wasn’t gaining altitude and was just gliding before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded,” he added. “At first, I thought I was dead. Later, I realised I was still alive and saw an opening in the fuselage.”
He said he unbuckled his seatbelt, used his leg to push through an opening and crawled out.
“I don’t know how I survived,” he said. “I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me … I walked out of the rubble.”
The man said one of his arms caught fire, though Indian doctor Dhaval Gameti said he is out of danger.
Flight AI171 was bound for London Gatwick Airport from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday. Minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed into a medical school facility, killing several students.
According to authorities, 241 out of 242 people on board died. It is unclear what caused the plane to crash.
An Air India plane crashed minutes after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad, killing more than 290 people https://t.co/1RryvBizFL pic.twitter.com/obtRHUp8Xn
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 12, 2025
