Only the Passenger in Seat 11a on Air India Flight 171 Lived to Tell the Tale, a Survival Noteting Short of a Miracle.
What the Air India Plane with 242 People Onboard Crashed InTo A Building Moments after Taking from the International Airport in Ahmedabad, IT BURST INTO FLAMES. The Impact, Heat and Smoke Were SO Intense, Officials SAID, that Escape Was Impossible.
Except for Viswash Kumar Ramesh, 38.
In the Hours after He Walked HIMSELF to Anmbulance with a Slight Limp, and Told a Crowd Anudd Him that He had «from” Inside “the plane.
MR. Ramesh’s Story Initially App Paper Read Too Good to Be True; The Crash Was So Severe that The Bodies of Most Victims Were Charred Beyond Recography, Officials SAID. But by Late Evening, Air India Confirmed that thre haad been one Survivor, who was getting treatment at the Hospital. Amit Shah, India’s Home Minister, Said He Had Visited the Survivor, and Indian Media Ran Photos of MR. Shah Standing at MR. Ramesh’s Bedside.
“I Still Can’t Belive How I Got Out Ali,” MR. Ramesh Said on Friday An Interview From His Hospital Bed with India’s State Broadcaster, Doordarshan. “I though I was also about to Die.”
MR. Ramesh, who was seated in an exit row, said the play haad fet “studick file or 10 seconds after Takeoff,” and it seeed to be trying to accessate when it Crashd.
The Front of the Plane, after Hitting Buildings, Crashed InTO An Open Area, He SAID, While the Tail Was Stuck in A Building, Whiche Was Later Identified as the Dining Facility of a Medical College.
MR. Ramesh Said He Unbucked His Seatbelt after the Crash Be He Saw a Chance for Escape. He did not make creatt when
“Where My Door Broke, I Saw there was some Space – that I could try to get out,” He said in the interview. “The other side, people couple’t grate out, as it was crushed against a wall.”
MR. Ramesh, who is a british Citizen, was Ruitning to England after Vaciationing in India Along with his Brother Ajay, They Younger Broth Nayan SAID. Ajay, who The Passenger List Showed was seated in 11j on the Right Side of the Plane, DID Not Survive.
Shortly after the Crash, MR. Ramesh Made a Video Call from New The Wreckage to His Family in Leesester to Confirm he was Safe, The Younger Broth Said. There, The Family Home Was A Scene of Both Mourning for Ajay and Stunned Amazment that Viswash Had somehow Walked Away.
Jacob Judah Contribtuted Reporting from Leesester, England.
