British man cheats death in horror Air India crash (video)
The 38 year old man was seated in 11A on Air India flight AI171
A British man has miraculously walked away from the burning wreckage of an Air India plane crash that killed at least 241 people, making him the sole known survivor in one of the deadliest aviation disasters in recent years.
The lucky survivor, 38 year old Vishwashkumar Ramesh, was seated in 11A on Air India flight AI171, which crashed into a residential building shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport yesterday, June 12. The London-bound Boeing 787 barely climbed 625 feet before it plummeted into a trainee doctor hostel, erupting into flames.
“He has no idea how he survived,” said his brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, speaking to the BBC. “He just kept saying, ‘Find Ajay, find Ajay’ – our other brother who was also on board.”
Video footage circulating on social media shows Vishwashkumar, dazed and bloodied, stumbling towards an ambulance as black smoke billows behind him. “The plane exploded,” he tells bystanders in Gujarati, adding that other passengers were still trapped inside.
Dr Dhaval Gameti, who treated him at the hospital, said: “He was disoriented, with multiple injuries all over his body. But he seems to be out of danger.”
Air India confirmed the flight carried 230 passengers and 12 crew. Among the dead were 52 Britons and 169 Indian nationals. Three of the British victims have been named as Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee, and their daughter Sara. The Gloucester Muslim Society said they were “loved by many and will be missed deeply.”
Another British couple believed to be on board were Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, who run a spiritual wellness centre in London. They had posted a smiling video on Instagram hours before, joking about their “10-hour flight back to England.”
Javed and Mariam Syed from West London, and elderly couple Adam and Hasina Taju from Blackburn, are also feared dead, along with their son-in-law Altafhusen Patel, reported BBC News and India Today.
In a statement, King Charles said he and Queen Camilla were “desperately shocked by the terrible events,” while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer expressed his condolences to grieving families.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the tragedy “heartbreaking beyond words.”
Crisis hotlines have been set up for families, while investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing. The aircraft’s black box has yet to be recovered.
Seat 11A has become a chilling connection between two tragic plane crashes. On December 11, 1998, singer James Ruangsak miraculously survived a Thai Airways Airbus A310-300 crash in Surat Thani, where 101 lives were lost. The plane, which had lost control during a storm, crashed into a rubber plantation after clipping a control tower. James endured years of trauma, battling flight anxiety and flashbacks, reported KhaoSod.
Years later, after hearing about the Air India crash in Ahmedabad, James shared a chilling message: “The survivor in India was sitting in the same seat number as me, 11A. #goosebumps.” He offered his condolences to the victims’ families.
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