Ahmedabad plane crash: After a London-bound Air India flight AI171 crashed a few moments after taking off on June 12 from Ahmedabad, all on board the plane were feared dead. However, one passenger, who was sitting in seat 11A, cheated death and miraculously survived the crash. He managed to walk away from the wreckage, a video of which surfaced on the same day in the evening and went viral on social media. Now, another video of him escaping the crash unhurt has gone viral.

In the now-viral video, the man can be seen walking out of the crash site in a white T-shirt as thick black smoke billows from the aircraft. He is even seen holding his smartphone in his left hand. 

Earlier, he was seen walking to the ambulance with great difficulty, telling bystanders that he had been on the flight that had crashed.

Passenger 11A: How did he escape the Air India crash?

The survivor has been identified as 45-year-old Vishwas Kumar Ramesh. He was seated in 11A, located near the emergency exit, and is currently being treated for burn injuries on his left hand. Ramesh recounted that his side of the plane did not collide with the nearby building, allowing a narrow path to the ground. When the emergency exit door broke open, he immediately fled.

ALSO READ

“My side did not hit the building. There was some space on the ground. When the door broke open, I saw an opening and escaped through it. I just ran. I still can’t believe I survived,” he told DD News. 

Seat 11A is located in the first row of the economy class, which consists of six seats. Its position near the emergency exit proved crucial in Ramesh’s escape from the burning aircraft.

“I don’t know how I came out of it alive. For a while, I thought I was about to die. But when I opened my eyes, I saw I was alive. And I opened my seat belt and got out of there. The airhostess and aunty uncle all died before my eyes,” he added. 

“A minute after the take-off, it felt like the plane had got stuck. Then the green and white lights came on. They (the pilots) tried to raise the plane, but it went full speed and crashed into the building,” he described the moment the Air India flight, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed.

ALSO READ

Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad

The Air India flight crashed moments after it took off from Ahmedabad Airport’s runway 23. The aircraft, as per the pilot’s message to ATC, “lost thrust” and started descending at a speed of -475 feet per minute. All but one passenger on board the doomed flight were declared dead. Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani was also on the flight. His last rites will be performed today. 10 crew members and two pilots on the flight were also declared dead.