A London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India, on Thursday. All the people on board were killed, but one passenger miraculously escaped.
At the Civil Hospital, Asarwa in Ahmedabad, 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who is the sole survivor of the fatal Ahmedabad plane crash, lays on a bed in the general ward as family members of those on the Air India flight search frantically for their loved ones.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” said Vishwash, speaking to Hindustan Times. He received “impact injuries” on his chest, eyes and feet.
At 1.38 pm on Thursday, the Air India flight, carrying 242 passengers, including crew members, was headed to Gatwick. Within minutes of takeoff, the plane crashed and caught fire.
Of the 230 passengers, according to Air India, 169 were Indian, 53 were British, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian.
British national Vishwash was returning to the UK with his 45-year-old brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, after spending a few days in India visiting his family.
“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,” said Vishwash, who was still carrying his boarding pass.
Vishwash is a resident of London for 20 years, and his spouse and child also reside there.
He said that his brother Ajay was seated in a different row on the plane. “We visited Diu. He was travelling with me and I can’t find him anymore. Please help me find him,” he said.
Family members and friends of the passengers on the Air India Boeing aircraft searched for their relatives elsewhere in the hospital.
Family members of Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat, who was also aboard that flight, were among them. His former assistant, Sailesh Mandliya was looking for the chief minister. “We are looking for him. If you find out something, let me know,” Mandliya said.
This was the country’s worst air disaster in recent times. On Friday, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the site to take stock of the situation.
Shortly after taking off at 1:30 pm, according to officials, aircraft AI 171 lost altitude before crashing into the residential quarters of BJ Medical College doctors in the Meghaninagar and igniting in a raging fire that sent thick black smoke plumes spiralling upward. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot made a “Mayday” distress call, which indicates a complete emergency, according to Air Traffic Control, Ahmedabad.
Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu said a high-level committee has been formed by the government to investigate the crash.