British Man Sole Survivor of Air India Crash that Killed 260+
A terrible plane crash in India has killed more than 260 people, with only one person surviving from the aircraft. The Air India Flight was heading to London when it crashed shortly after takeoff in the city of Ahmedabad.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was carrying 242 people when it went down just a few minutes after leaving the runway at 1:38 PM local time. The plane crashed into a residential area that included a hostel for medical students and doctors, killing at least 24 people on the ground.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British man from London, was the only person to survive the crash. He was sitting in seat 11A near an emergency exit when the crash happened.
What the Survivor Remembers
Ramesh described the terrifying moments when the plane went down. “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise, and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” he told reporters while still holding his boarding pass.
He suffered bruises on his chest, eyes, and feet, but was able to walk after the crash. “When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran,” he said.
Video footage shows Ramesh bloodied and limping as he walked to an ambulance. Police say he managed to jump out through the emergency exit after the crash.
The Crash Details and Why it Happened
The plane was supposed to fly to London’s Gatwick Airport, but crashed into the Meghani Nagar residential area. Witnesses said it sounded like a bomb blast and felt like an earthquake when it hit the ground.
Flight tracking websites show the plane’s signal was lost less than a minute after takeoff. The aircraft sent out a distress call, but nothing more was heard from the pilots after that. India’s Home Minister Amit Shah explained why only one person survived. The plane was carrying 125,000 liters of fuel. Which caught fire and made it nearly impossible for anyone to escape the intense heat.
Who Was on Board
The flight had 242 people total, including 2 pilots and 10 flight attendants. Among the passengers were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese people, and 1 Canadian.
Three British victims have been identified as Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa, and their 4-year-old daughter Sara, as per their local community. This crash marks the worst aviation disaster in over a decade and is the first ever crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner Aircraft.
Air India has set up support teams for families looking for information about their loved ones. The Indian government has also opened a formal investigation to find out what caused the plane crash.
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