Great Britain Miraculous: Passenger survives plane crash in India
Indian and British media speak of a miracle, experts of unbelievable luck.
13.06.2025, 15:49
SDA
The man, who is said to be the only one of the 242 passengers to have survived Thursday's plane crash in India with relatively minor injuries, gives interviews from his hospital bed and receives visitors.
On Friday, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays him a visit at the hospital in Ahmedabad. Home Minister Amit Shah has also visited the man in hospital.
According to NDTV, the man told the Prime Minister that he was able to release his seatbelt and leave the plane after it hit the ground. Someone then took him to an ambulance.
Boeing crashed into a residential area shortly after take-off
The Boeing 787-8 crashed into a residential area near the airport in the large city of Ahmedabad shortly after take-off. It was on its way to London. Pictures showed how it burst into a fireball when it crashed.
At the crash site, Modi also took a look at the disaster, which resulted in more than 240 deaths.
The exact number of fatalities is still unclear. In total, at least 265 people were killed, the Indian news agency PTI reported, citing the deputy police chief of Ahmedabad, Kanan Desai. The police spoke of dozens of injured.
Survivor is said to have been sitting in seat 11A
Following initial reports about the case, the airline Air India announced on Thursday evening that there was a survivor from the plane. It did not provide any information on the identity.
"We do not disclose personal details of passengers," the company said in response to a dpa inquiry.
According to the airline, the survivor is a British man of Indian origin. Indian media identified him as passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. He is said to have been sitting in seat 11A near an emergency exit.
They also circulated a photo of an economy class boarding pass bearing his name. Air India did not initially confirm the reports.
"At first I thought I was dead," he said.
"I was scared. I got up and ran," Ramesh was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times newspaper. There were only bodies around him. "There were pieces of the plane lying everywhere."
The man seemed to have acted instinctively. According to the Indian state broadcaster DD News, he did not know how he had survived.
"At first I thought I was dead. Later I realized I was alive and saw an opening in the fuselage near where I was sitting." He still does not know how he escaped.
Headlines in the UK: "Miracle of seat 11A"
The plane crash also dominates the headlines in the UK. Newspapers print the face of the man who is said to have survived the accident on their front pages. "The miracle of seat 11A", writes the Telegraph newspaper, for example. In other words, the "miracle of seat 11A".
40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was on board the plane with his brother, reported the British news agency PA, which said it had interviewed relatives in Leicester, England.
"We spoke to Vishwash this morning," PA quoted a 19-year-old as saying. He had minor injuries to his face but was able to walk and talk.
Forces on plane must have been enormous
How can a man survive such a plane crash with only minor injuries? According to the PA news agency, aviation expert Graham Braithwaite from Cranfield University said that the plane had crashed into a densely populated area with a full tank of fuel.
He could only imagine that he had been ejected from the wreckage and that something had cushioned the impact. If you look at the scene, the forces on the plane must have been enormous.
It is difficult to deduce that this is the place where you always have to sit, said Braithwaite. If a plane crashes into a building and catches fire, there's probably not much you can do except be lucky where you're sitting.
Expert: "Booking seat 11A is not life insurance"
According to aviation expert Heinrich Grossbongardt, seats on airplanes are similarly safe. However, seats in the rear of the aircraft tend to offer a greater chance of survival during a crash than those in the front cabins, Grossbongardt told dpa:
"Put simply, the rest of the plane is a crumple zone in many accidents."
Despite the accident, Grossbongardt believes that airplanes are the safest means of transportation. "Flying was safe and is becoming safer all the time," he said. Manufacturers are constantly investing in the safety of new models.
Seats, for example, have become more robust and can now withstand a load of around 1.3 tons. This means that they are not torn away in the event of an accident.
Search for the cause ongoing
It is not yet clear why the aircraft with the flight number AI171 crashed. Recovery teams have been searching for other parts of the wreckage of the Boeing 787-8, among other things, which may be able to provide information.
According to unconfirmed reports, there was a "mayday" call from the cockpit. The British air accident authority AAIB announced that it would send a team to India. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing also declared its willingness to support the investigation.
