Air India crash survivor says he escaped through broken emergency exit
The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people said he walked out of a broken emergency exit after the aircraft hit a medical college hostel in the city of Ahmedabad.
Ramesh Viswashkumar, who police said was on seat 11A near the emergency exit and managed to escape through the broken hatch, was filmed after Thursday's crash limping on the street in a blood-stained T-shirt with bruises on his face.
That social media footage of the British national of Indian origin was broadcast on nearly all of India's news channels after the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plummeted soon after take-off and erupted in a ball of fire.
It was the worst aviation disaster in a decade.
"I don't believe how I survived. For some time I thought I was also going to die," 40-year-old Viswashkumar told Indian state broadcaster DD News from his hospital bed on Friday.
"But when I opened my eyes, I realised I was alive and I tried to unbuckle myself from the seat and escape from where I could".
Police said some people at the hostel and others on the ground were also killed in the crash. Rescue workers were searching for remains and aircraft parts in the charred buildings of the hostel on Friday.
Viswashkumar said the plane appeared to come to a standstill in midair for a few seconds shortly after take-off and the green and white cabin lights were turned on.
He said he could feel the engine thrust increasing but then the plane "crashed with speed into the hostel".
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in his home state of Gujarat to visit the crash site, also met Viswashkumar in the hospital on Friday.
Doctors told local media that he did not sustain any major injuries.
"The side of the plane I was in landed on the ground, and I could see that there was space outside the aircraft, so when my door broke I tried to escape through it and I did," Viswashkumar said.
"The opposite side of the aircraft was blocked by the building wall so nobody could have come out of there."
Viswashkumar said he walked out of the crash site with only burn injuries on his left arm.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
8 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Air India told to fire 3 officials 'responsible for operational lapses'
The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has directed Air India to remove three officials "responsible for operational lapses" from all roles and responsibilities related to crew scheduling and rostering. DGCA has also directed internal disciplinary proceedings against these officials without delay, and that the outcome of such proceedings shall be reported back within 10 days, reported ANI.
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
UK could ban Palestinian Action group following RAF air base break in
The Palestinian Action group, a pro-Palestinian protest group, could be banned in the UK and be defined as a "terrorist" organisation, according to the BBC. The move comes shortly after the group said on Friday that two of its members broke into a UK RAF air base on scooters, and defaced two military aircraft with red spray paint, in a breach of security in a location used to park transport planes of the king and the prime minister. The individuals fled the RAF's Brize Norton air base in Oxfordshire without being arrested. According to the BBC, the UK home secretary, Yvette Cooper, plans to bring forward a statement to Parliament on Monday. If passed, the group will be illegal in Britain. Earlier, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer denounced the incident, describing it as "disgraceful and an act of vandalism".
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
Palestine Action to be proscribed as a terror group after break-in at UK's largest airbase
The British government will move to ban the activist group Palestine Action and proscribe it as a terrorist organisation, after two activists broke into the UK's largest airbase on Friday on electric scooters and damaged two Royal Air Force (RAF) planes. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will submit a statement before parliament on Monday which if passed will make it illegal to be a member of the group, the BBC reported. Footage shared by Palestine Action purported to show two protesters riding scooters towards the RAF planes on the runway at the Brize Norton airbase, where they used "repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the turbine engines" and "caused further damage using crowbars". The activists then evaded security and escaped the base. The group announced on its website on Friday that the airbase was targeted because flights leave daily from there "for RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, a base used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East". The British base on Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, is just a 40-minute flight from Tel Aviv. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters From there, RAF Shadow aircraft have conducted hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza throughout Israel's war on the Palestinian enclave. A security review has begun at military bases across Britain, and South East counter terrorism police said its specialist officers were investigating the incident with Thames Valley Police and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Prime Minister Keir Starmer branded the action as "disgraceful" and an "act of vandalism". Palestine Action said in a post on X that "we exposed Britain's direct involvement in the genocide, and how ordinary people can act to stop it. "In response, the political establishment rush to call us "terrorists", whilst they enact the worst crimes against humanity. "No amount of smears or intimidation tactics will waver our solidarity with Palestine." Secrecy surrounding Gaza surveillance flights The planes the activists damaged were Airbus Voyagers, which carry military cargo and refuel fighter jets and military aircraft. In response to questions about its surveillance flights over Gaza, the MoD has repeatedly insisted they are in support of "hostage rescue". Earlier this year, Luke Pollard, minister for the armed forces, said during a debate that Britain "shares an important, long-standing and broad strategic partnership with the state of Israel". He said that surveillance flights over Gaza are "solely in support of hostage rescue" and that information is passed on "only if we are satisfied that it will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law". Pro-Palestine activists on electric scooters damage RAF planes and evade capture at UK airbase Read More » The MoD also said last year that it "would consider any formal request from the International Criminal Court to provide information relating to investigations into war crimes". However, there is significant secrecy surrounding much of what the RAF Akrotiri airbase is used for. Last month, MEE reported that the UK government blocked Labour MP Kim Johnson from asking about Israeli bombers using the Cyprus airbase. Palestine Action have carried out a series of high-profile actions during Israel's war on Gaza. PA activists were arrested on terror charges after an action in August when activists drove a modified van into the research and development hub of UK-based Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems, in Filton, Bristol. They are currently being held in remand.
