Who is the sole survivor of Indian airline crash that killed 241
The Boeing 787-7 aircraft had 242 passengers and crew members on board. Air India said later that 69 were Indian nationals, 53 were British nationals, seven were Portuguese and one Canadian national was on board.
All but one abroad were killed in the crash that took place in the residential area of Ahmedabad, the largest city of Gujarat.
The one passenger who survived was Vishwashkumar Ramesh.
Ramesh was filmed walking away from the wreckage. He is a British national of Indian origin.
'Thirty seconds after takeoff there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,' Ramesh said to the Hindustan Times on Thursday.
Ramesh was visiting family in India for a few days and was returning to the United Kingdom, where he has lived for two decades.
'When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital,' Ramesh told The Hindustan Times.
Ramesh's brother Nayan Kumar said that their father spoke to Vishwashkumar moments before the plane, bound for England's London Gatwick Airport, took off.
'My dad called him. And Vishwash said, 'Oh, we're going to take off soon,' Nayan said in a Thursday interview with Sky News.
'He video called my dad as he crashed and said, 'Oh the plane's crashed. I don't know where my brother is. I don't see any other passengers. I don't know how I'm alive – how I exited the plane',' Nayan told the news channel.
Dr. Dhaval Gameti, who is treating Ramesh at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital, told The Associated Press that Ramesh was 'disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body.'
'But he seems to be out of danger,' the doctor told the AP.
Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik told Indian news outlet Asian News International that Ramesh was seated in seat 11A in the emergency row.
The former Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector David Soucie told CNN that the 11A seat is 'right where the spar of the wing would go under and it would be a solid place for the aircraft to hit the ground, but as far as survivability above it, that is incredibly surprising.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Co-Pilot of Doomed Flight Thought Captain Turned Off Fuel Switches Just Before Crash, Investigation Continues: Reports
NEED TO KNOW The co-pilot on the Air India flight that crashed on June 12 thought the captain turned off the plane's fuel switches shortly before the fatal crash, according to a new report The report suggests the co-pilot officer was panicked, while the captain was calm shortly before the crash near the airport in Ahmedabad Of the 242 people on the July 12 flight to London, 241 diedThe co-pilot on the doomed Air India flight thought the captain may have turned off the plane's fuel switches shortly before the fatal crash, according to reports. A black box recording from the ill-fated Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner suggests the captain of the flight turned off the plane's fuel switches, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited "people familiar with U.S. officials' early assessment of evidence uncovered in the crash investigation." According to The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, those familiar with the recording said the co-pilot officer asked the captain why the switches were put in the 'cutoff' position and seemed panicked, while the captain seemed calm. The interaction reveals for the first time who said what in the flight deck, Bloomberg noted. This account appears to corroborate information laid out in a preliminary report about the crash released one month after the crash. That report, published by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau on Saturday, July 12, stated that fuel to the aircraft's engines was cut off as it traveled from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick Airport. Black box audio from the cockpit recorded 'one of the pilots … asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' per the report. 'At about 08:09:05 UTC, one of the pilots transmitted 'MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY,' " the report added. In a statement shared on Thursday, July 17, the Aviation Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said, 'We urge both the public and the media to refrain from spreading premature narratives that risk undermining the integrity of the investigative process.' The AAIB also said, 'at this stage, it is too early to reach to any definite conclusions,' adding that the investigation into the crash 'is still not complete.' Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, was the captain of the Air India flight, which crashed a short distance away from the airport in Ahmedabad. Clive Kunder, who was in his 30s, was the co-pilot. Kunder had 1,100 hours of flight experience, while Sabharwal had 8,200, The Economic Times previously reported. Kunder was the cousin of Bollywood star Vikrant Massey, who paid tribute to his late family member on Instagram shortly after the crash on June 12. 'My heart breaks for the families & loved ones of the ones who lost their lives in the unimaginably tragic air crash in Ahmedabad today,' Massey wrote. 'It pains me even more to know that my uncle, Clifford Kunder lost his son, Clive Kunder who was the 1st officer operating on that fateful flight,' he added. 'May God give strength to you and your family uncle and to all deeply affected.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In total, 241 of the 242 people on board the AIr India flight died in the crash. Only one person survived. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
American Military News
6 hours ago
- American Military News
New mystery revealed in major Air India crash, report shows
An investigation into the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed last month in India and left 260 people dead has revealed a mysterious audio recording of the aircraft's two pilots after the Dreamliner suddenly lost fuel shortly after the plane departed on its flight. According to Fox Business, a preliminary report released by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau on Saturday revealed that the Dreamliner's fuel control switches were mysteriously flipped to the 'cutoff' position, which prevented the engines from having the proper supply of fuel. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's report indicated that the cockpit voice recorder captured a recording of one pilot asking the other pilot why he 'did' the 'cutoff,' prompting the other pilot to say that 'he did not do so,' according to Fox Business. The outlet noted that the report did not identify which voice belonged to Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the aircraft's pilot, and which voice belonged to Clive Kundar, the aircraft's co-pilot. Fox Business reported that investigators discovered that the aircraft's fuel control switches were flipped from 'run' to 'cutoff' shortly after the Dreamliner completed liftoff. Investigators also discovered that both of the aircraft's fuel control switches were set to the 'run' position at the site of the crash, which indicates that the Dreamliner's engines had been relit in an attempt to prevent the airplane from crashing. READ MORE: Video/Pic: Sole survivor walks away from plane crash that left 200+ dead in India The Daily Wire reported that aviation experts have confirmed that the airplane's 'cutoff' switch is not something that can be flipped accidentally. Ira Astrachan, a former captain for Delta Air Lines, told The Daily Wire that an airplane's fuel switch can only be put into the 'cutoff' position by 'manually activating the switch, which generally requires two fingers plus your thumb.' 'There is no physical way to move the switches from one position to the other by simply pushing them up or down like a typical household light switch,' Astrachan added. According to a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson informed the airline's staff members last week that the investigation into last month's airplane crash is 'far from over.' The CEO encouraged staff members to avoid theoretical conclusions regarding the cause of the crash. Wilson stated, 'Over the past 30 days, we've seen an ongoing cycle of theories, allegations, rumours and sensational headlines, many of which have later been disproven.'
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Air India captain ‘cut off' fuel to engines
The captain of the crashed Air India jet likely cut off the fuel supply before it crashed in Ahmedabad, US officials believe. The first officer, who was flying the Boeing 787-9, questioned why the captain had moved switches to the cut-off position, according to a US assessment of the black-box data. The first officer reportedly expressed surprise and panicked, while the captain remained calm, the Wall Street Journal reported. All but one of 242 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were killed when the aircraft plunged into a medical student hostel in a built-up suburb last month, less than a minute after take-off from Ahmedabad airport. It follows a preliminary report released by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) that found that switches controlling fuel flow to the jet's two engines were turned off, leading to a catastrophic loss of thrust at take-off. According to the report, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why 'did you cut off' the fuel supply in the recovered cockpit voice recording. The other pilot responded that he 'didn't'. It was not previously clear who said what. However, sources in the US who have reviewed the cockpit voice recordings told the Wall Street Journal that it was the captain who was questioned about why he cut off fuel to engines. The switches were moved in succession, one second apart, according to the report. Some 10 seconds later, the switches were turned back on. The report did not say whether the switches may have been turned off accidentally or deliberately. Sumeet Sabharwal, the captain, and Clive Kundar, the co-pilot had more than 9,000 hours of flying time between them. On Sunday, The Telegraph revealed that Air India crash investigators are examining the medical records of Mr Sabharwal amid claims that he suffered from depression and mental health problems. Captain Sabharwal, 56, who had been considering leaving the airline to look after his elderly father following the death of his mother in 2022. In the moments before the disaster, Mr Sabharwal issued a mayday call. However, after the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of barely 400ft above the runway all contact was lost. The plane then fell towards the ground and exploded on impact. Campbell Wison, the Air India chief executive, said in a staff memo that the report had 'triggered a new round of speculation in the media'. Mr Wilson said the report identified no cause nor made any recommendations and urged people to avoid drawing premature conclusions as investigation was far from over. The crash was the first fatal accident involving Boeing's Dreamliner. However, the airline had already suffered reputational damage after a string of safety and quality problems. The Dreamliner, which entered service in 2011, is popular among commercial airlines and is commonly used on international long-haul routes. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
