Brit who survived Air India disaster describes how he escaped from flight alive in world first interview
The British man who miraculously walked away from last week's Air India disaster has revealed more about his experience in a world-first interview.
On Thursday 12 June, a London Gatwick-bound flight from Ahmedabad airport in India lasted just moments in the air before crashing into an accommodation building for local medical students, tragically killing 241 of the 242 people on board.
A further 29 people are now confirmed to have been killed in the crash, taking the overall tally to 270, which has been confirmed as one of the worst aviation disasters in recent history.
However, that tally reportedly could have been far worse if it were not for pilot Sumeet Sabharwal, who was dubbed a 'hero' by local media after steering the plane away from an apartment building.
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One small solace from the horrifying incident was that British national Vishwash Ramesh was somehow able to walk away relatively unharmed, and after recovering in hospital, he has now spoken to The Sun about his experience of last week's tragedy.
He said: "It felt like something got stuck and the lights started flickering.
“Everything happened in seconds. I realised we were going down.”
The pilot, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 55, frantically radioed air traffic control to yell: “No thrust… May Day…May Day.”
Vishwash went on: “The aircraft wasn't gaining altitude and was just gliding.
“After that, the plane seemed to speed up, before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded."
Despite surviving, the 40-year-old has been left broken by the crash, which also sadly claimed the life of his brother Ajay.
He added: "If we had been sat together we both might have survived.
“I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together.
“But I lost my brother in front of my eyes. So now I am constantly thinking ‘Why can't I save my brother?’
“It’s a miracle I survived. I am okay physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.”
Heartbreakingly, he added to friends: “I wish I was not alive.”
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the plane might have been reliant on emergency power when it crashed, while a video taken from a passenger who was on the plane hours before it crashed also alleged that nothing was working.
He added: “Where I landed was closer to the ground and there was space too - and when my door broke - I saw that there was space. I saw an opening. I used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out.
“Everyone around me was either dead or dying. I still don't understand how I escaped."
James Moorhouse