‘I don’t believe how I survived’- Air India crash survivor recounts ordeal from hospital bed

In what is being called the “miracle of seat 11A,” 40-year-old Ramesh Viswashkumar has emerged as the only survivor of Thursday’s horrific Air India crash that claimed the lives of 241 people.

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plunged into a medical college hostel shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, igniting a massive fireball. The wreckage was left twisted and engulfed in flames, with only Viswashkumar making it out alive.

Speaking from his hospital bed on Friday, the British national of Indian descent told DD News:

“I don’t believe how I survived. For some time, I thought I was also going to die. But when I opened my eyes, I realised I was alive and I tried to unbuckle myself and escape from wherever I could. It was in front of my eyes that the air hostess and others died.”

Viswashkumar had been seated in 11A, a window seat near an emergency exit. According to rescue officials, that section of the aircraft landed in a way that created a gap near a broken hatch, offering him a narrow route to safety.

“The side of the plane I was in landed on the ground, and I could see there was space outside the aircraft,” he explained. “So when my door broke, I tried to escape through it, and I did. The building wall blocked the opposite side of the aircraft; no one could have come out from there.”

Footage circulating on Indian media shows Viswashkumar limping through the streets in a bloodied T-shirt, visibly dazed and bruised. Doctors at Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, where he remains under observation, described his survival as nothing short of a miracle.

“His escape, and without any grievous injury, was astonishing,” one hospital official told Reuters. “He’s understandably shaken by the trauma.”

Tragically, Viswashkumar had been travelling with his brother, Ajay, who was seated elsewhere on the aircraft. His family, based in Leicester, England, is devastated by the news.

“We can’t describe it in words; we are totally heartbroken,” said his cousin, Hiren Kantilal. The family spoke with him via video call Friday morning and are arranging to travel to India.

Recalling the moments before the crash, Viswashkumar said the plane seemed to lose momentum shortly after liftoff.

“The green and white cabin lights came on. I could feel the engine thrust increase, but then the plane crashed into the hostel at speed,” he said.

Authorities have confirmed that several people on the ground, including hostel residents, also lost their lives. Rescue workers continued searching the scorched wreckage Friday for bodies and evidence.

Air India has launched a full investigation, and Boeing has dispatched a team to assist Indian aviation authorities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hails from Gujarat, visited the crash site and later met with Viswashkumar in the hospital. The crash has been declared India’s deadliest air disaster in more than a decade, leaving a nation in mourning.