Featured Image Credit: DD News India
Topics: World News, Air India, News, Travel
Lucy Devine
The impact the devastating Air India crash had on the sole survivor's life has been revealed, as the passenger has been recovering at home following the ordeal.
Viswash Kumar Ramesh, a British national, was onboard the doomed flight AI171, which took off from Ahmedabad on Thursday, 12 June, bound for London Gatwick.
But while it was first reported by authorities that there weren't expected to be any survivors, news of Ramesh quickly spread as he was filmed miraculously walking away from the wreckage.
The world was stunned when the footage was shown across the globe, with many wondering how Ramesh had been able to survive the crash, when every other passenger and crew member on board had tragically died, including Ramesh's brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh.
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Now, according to Krunal Keshave - one of Ramesh's relatives - the crash has had a significant impact on him.
“He sleeps but doesn’t sleep properly,” Keshave told Metro, revealing how the horrros of that day are still fresh in his mind.
“When he sleeps, he dreams he is on the flight. He remembers seeing everyone die in front of his eyes. He speaks, but he doesn’t speak about the crash. He is currently trying to have a normal life, but he is not going out too much.
"He is spending time at home with the family."
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At the time of the crash, Ramesh told DD News: "I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me … I walked out of the rubble."
The Air India flight, which was carrying 53 Britons onboard, lost signal within a minute of taking off from Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, with pilots issuing a Mayday call around 13.38 local time.
Just 625 feet in the air, the plane started to plummet back to Earth and crashed into the BJ Medical College UG hostel in Meghani Nagar, Ahmedabad.
Ramesh, 40, is the only known survivor of the tragedy and was left with injuries to his chest, eyes, and feet.
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Speaking to local media outlet Doordarshan previously, Ramesh said he 'can't believe' how he came out alive, adding: "For a little while, I thought I was also going to die. But when I opened my eyes, I realised I was alive.
"So I tried to escape. I pulled out the belt from under my seat and tried to escape. Then I managed to do it. I saw others and the air hostess in front of me who couldn’t escape."
Earlier this month, new details regarding the crash emerged.
An investigation into the cause of the devastating crash is currently underway, with audio analysed from Flight AI171's black box recorders suggesting the fuel control switches had been briefly switched off.
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"In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so," a segment of the India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau preliminary report reads.
The report did not specify which voice belonged to Captain Sabharwal and which was first officer Clive Kunder at the time of release.