The sole survivor of the Air India crash has been discharged from hospital and has attended his brother's funeral, who was also on the plane.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh and Ajaykumar Ramesh had boarded Flight AI-171 together. The former was in seat 11A with Ajay in seat 11J.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner had taken off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:38PM local time.
But within moments, it lost all power and slammed into the doctors’ hostel of BJ Medical College, killing virtually everyone onboard and causing a fiery explosion.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, in collaboration with the UK, US, and Boeing, is now probing the catastrophic failure.
Early findings indicate the aircraft was using an emergency-power generator, possibly due to engine failure. Investigators believe both engines may have lost power, giving pilots just 17 seconds to react before the crash.
Nearly a week after the tragedy, 40-year-old Vishwash, from Leicester, walked with a limp and wore plasters on his face as he helped bear the casket of his brother, per the Daily Mail.
The heart-wrenching funeral ceremony in took place in Gujarat.
From his hospital bed, Vishwash shared his haunting account of the crash, which happened just seconds after takeoff.
“I don’t believe how I survived. For some time I thought I was also going to die. But when I opened my eyes, I realised I was alive and I tried to unbuckle myself from the seat and escape from where I could," he said.
“It was in front of my eyes that the air hostess and others died. The side of the plane I was in landed on the ground, and I could see that there was space outside the aircraft, so when my door broke I tried to escape through it and I did."
Vishwash went on: “When the flight took off, within five to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air. Suddenly, the lights started flickering - green and white. The aircraft wasn't gaining altitude and was just gliding before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.
"Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise, and then we crashed. It all happened so fast. When I stood up, there were bodies everywhere. I just ran. I don’t even know how I got out of the plane.”
A simulation video later revealed that Vishwash's seat 11A, located in the first row of the economy cabin next to an emergency exit - was a detail believed to have saved his life.
As fire and smoke engulfed the crash site, eyewitness footage showed Vishwash trying to run back into the flames to save his sibling.
“My family member is in there, my brother and he's burning to death. I have to save him,” Vishwash told emergency responders at the scene.
Paramedic Satinder Singh Sandhu, one of the first medics on the ground, remembered how Vishwash appeared out of the smoke, disoriented and bleeding: “The first person we spotted was the hostel guard who suffered primary burn injuries.
"Even as he was dispatched in an ambulance as the first patient from the site, we saw a man coming from out near the building.
“We started shouting at him as he was disorientated and tried to go back to the site, even as the fire and smoke billowed.
“We later got to know that his brother was on the flight and he was trying to go back to check on him. But the team on the spot escorted him and took him to Civil Hospital. His survival is unbelievable.”
Despite being injured and limping, Vishwash refused help when carrying his brother’s flower-covered coffin.