A single passenger rose from the ashes and went away from the wreckage of Air India Flight 171 – a catastrophe that has declared the lives of at least 241 people.
More than 200 people lost their lives when an Air India flight accident shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12 in one of the fatal aviation disasters in recent Indian history.
The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 people including passengers and crew, had taken off at 1:38 p.m. local time, and smashed into a medical college campus just minutes after leaving Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
Images from the crash site display surreal devastation: fragments of the aircraft strewn across rooftops, burned-out classrooms, charred bodies carried from the streets, and – most jarring of all – a large section of the aircraft’s tail embedded in a collapsed wing of the college building.
‘No survivors’.
“It appears there are no survivors in the plane cra.sh,” the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik told AP, claming at the time 204 bodies had been recovered.
He further continued that since the aircraft went down in a densely populated residential area that also housed several offices, it is likely that “some locals would have also passed away.”
“Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained,” he said.
Sole survivor
But in an emotional and unpredicted revelation, Malik declared that one individual had been found alive amidst the demolition.
“My earlier statement was misquoted. One individual has been found alive. He is currently undergoing treatment in hospital. Doctors are closely monitoring status,” he told local media.
That lone survivor is 40-year-old Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, a British national originally from India. He had returned to visit his family and was heading back to London with his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, 45. The brothers had spent time together in Diu, creating remarkable memories they thought they’d carry back to the UK.
But the journey ended in horror.
‘Bodies all around me’
Lying in a general ward at a local hospital, Vishwas – who still had his boarding pass – was bruised but breathing – a miracle by all accounts.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” the survivor told Hindustan Times.
Vishwas went through the smoky wreckage of the plane, charred bodies and fuselage scattered along his path.
“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran,” the man said.
“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.”
‘Happily, happily, happily’
The couple – who operated Wellness Foundry announced a hauntingly cheerful video about returning home before boarding what would be their final flight.
In the clip, now shared publicly across social media, Fiongal smiled brightly, blissfully unaware that he was capturing their last moments.
“We are at the airport just boarding. Goodbye India on a 10-hour flight back to London,” Fiongal said.
As he continued to share a few thoughts from his India trip, Fiongal joked, “My biggest takeaway is to not lose your patience with your partner.”
He signed off saying: “Going back happily, happily, happily calm.” before heartily laughing, flashing a gentle smile and blowing a kiss to his followers.
