The sole survivor of the Air India tragedy was sitting in the same seat as a man who had escaped a fatal plane crash years earlier.
The recent crash, which claimed the lives of 241 of the 242 people on board, occurred just moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad, Western India.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, headed for London’s Gatwick Airport, made a mayday call seconds into the flight before slamming into a doctors’ hostel and bursting into flames.
Initially feared to have left no survivors, officials later confirmed that one man had made it out alive - 40-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. He was seated in 11A, right next to an emergency exit.
The father-of-one from Leicester opened up about his terrifying experience, sharing that "it all happened so quickly,” cited by the Daily Mail.
"I was scared. I stood up and ran," he continued. "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."
Ramesh later elaborated from his hospital bed in Ahmedabad that "for a while" he thought he was "about to die," adding: "But when I opened my eyes, I saw I was alive. And I opened my seatbelt and got out of there."
According to the passenger, the emergency exit next to him had “broken,” creating an opening: “There was some space. When the door broke, I saw that space and I just jumped out.”
He described the feeling right after takeoff as if the “plane had got stuck,” before the lights began flickering green and white, and the aircraft “rammed into some establishment".
Ramesh recounted that he saw air hostesses and other victims dying in front of his eyes. “When I saw the exit, I thought I could come out. I tried, and I did," he recalled. "Maybe the people who were on the other side of the plane weren’t able to. I walked out of the rubble.”
Medical staff confirmed the man sustained multiple injuries and burns to his arm but is now “out of danger".
Investigators believe the dislodged emergency exit near his seat may have been what gave him the miraculous escape path. Aviation historian Edwin Galea remarked that proximity to an exit during a fire significantly improves survival odds.
As Ramesh’s story spread, another man stepped forward.
Thai pop singer Ruangsak Loychusak - now 47 years old - was seated in 11A during the Thai Airways flight TG261 crash in 1998.
That flight stalled during a landing attempt in Surat Thani and plunged into a swamp, killing 101 people.
“The lone survivor of the plane crash in India was sitting in the same seat number as me, 11A,” Loychusak said, per The Mirror. “I want to offer my condolences to all those who lost loved ones in the tragedy.”
Loychusak opened up about his post-crash trauma, sharing that for 10 years, he feared flying. “I would struggle breathing, even though the air circulation was normal. I avoided speaking to anyone and always stared outside the window, blocking anyone from closing it to maintain my sense of safety," he said.
He added: “If I saw dark clouds or a rainstorm outside, I would feel terrible, like I was in hell. I can still remember the sounds, smells, and even the taste of the water in the swamp the plane crashed into. For a long time, I would keep the feelings to myself.”
Back in Ahmedabad, authorities are still grappling with the devastation. Ramesh’s older brother Ajay, who was seated in a different row, did not survive the impact.
Initial crash theories include a bird strike that may have disabled both engines or misconfigured flaps that led to the sudden descent.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has launched a full probe, with support from the U.S. NTSB, FAA, Boeing, and GE. DNA testing is underway to identify the charred remains of victims, most of whom were unrecognizable, as confirmed by Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik.
Our thoughts continue to be with everyone affected by this tragedy.