By: Genalyn Evangelista
Ahmedabad, India – In a harrowing turn of events, a London-bound Air India flight carrying 242 passengers crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India on Thursday. While initial reports suggested a complete loss of life, one survivor, 40-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, has emerged from the wreckage, recounting a tale of unimaginable terror.
Ramesh, seated in 11A, described the catastrophic events to the Hindustan Times. “Thirty seconds after takeoff there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” he recounted. He described a scene of chaos and devastation upon regaining consciousness: “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.”
A fiery explosion consumed the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner moments after it took off. The aircraft, carrying 242 passengers—53 of whom were British nationals—crashed into the Meghani Nagar residential area, instantly becoming a scene of intense fire and destruction. Eyewitness accounts and online videos corroborate a sequence of events: the aircraft, last seen over residential areas, disappeared behind trees, immediately followed by a catastrophic explosion and a substantial release of black smoke.
Ramesh’s survival stands in stark contrast to the initial reports of a complete loss of life. Local police confirmed his survival as the sole survivor amidst the tragedy. He had been visiting family in India before returning to the UK, where he has resided for two decades. The investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.
