Ex-Qantas pilot's sole survivor theory after Air India tragedy

News.com.au

15-06-2025

The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash may have lived thanks to a series of factors, according to a former Qantas pilot.
British citizen and father of one Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 42, miraculously walked away from the wreckage with minor injuries, making him the only survivor of Thursday's horrific crash.
The Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787, was carrying 242 passengers when it crashed and exploded into flames just seconds after taking off from an airport in India's western city of Ahmedabad bound for London Gatwick.
Dozens more were killed in the built-up crash site, with the death toll as of Sunday morning at 279.
Mr Ramesh sustained injuries to his chest, eyes and feet.
Ex-Qantas pilot David Oliver told Weekend Sunrise on Saturday that it was 'remarkable' that Mr Ramesh was able to walk away unscathed.
'How it was that he managed to get out and people around him were unable to only compounds the luck that he had to come away almost uninjured.'
It has been reported Ramesh was in row five, seat 11A, just behind business class and next to an emergency exit.
On Friday, Mr Ramesh told reporters he was able to push open the emergency exit door before the plane exploded.
'He was very, very lucky to be seated there,' Oliver said.
'He was lucky that he just had that fleeting seconds to escape the aircraft before it burst into that fireball.'
Mr Oliver also revealed the most important actions to ensure survival in the event of a crash.
'Listen to the safety instructions and always wear your seatbelt, comfortably but firmly tightened,' he said.
'You've got to wear sensible clothing, bare skin going down an escape slide will give you burns. So just be sensible about what you're wearing.
'No high-heeled shoes for the ladies. You don't want to puncture an escape slide if you're going out.
'But the important thing, listen to the safety instructions and always wear your seatbelt,' he added.
On board flight AI171 were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese citizens and one Canadian, according to the airline.
The aeroplane crashed soon after takeoff into a residential neighbourhood, hitting a hostel for doctors.
Authorities have said at least 50 medical students who were in the building are being treated in hospital.
On Friday, India's aviation authorities recovered one of the two black boxes from the 787-8 Dreamliner, a day after it crashed.
The 'Directorate General of Civil Aviation team have recovered one black box from the crash site', senior state police said, with India's Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu saying it would 'significantly aid' investigations.
A black-box recorder captures flight data and cockpit audio and is critical in helping investigators determine the cause of an aircraft accident.