The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash has made a heartbreaking admission about the tragedy, which claimed the lives of at least 270 people, including his brother. Briton, Vishwash Ramesh, 40, crawled through a hole in the wrecked fuselage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad last week. He was on the flight with his brother, Ajay, but they were unable to get seats next to each other.
Mr Ramesh was in seat 11A, next to one of the aircraft’s emergency exits, but his brother was on the other side of the aisle. He said they would have been sitting together had it been possible to get seats next to each other. He told The Sun that both he and his brother might have survived had they been sitting side by side. In nine heartbreaking words, he added: “I lost my brother in front of my eyes.”
The father of one is recovering with family at the village of Diu on India’s east coast where he and Ajay operated a fishing business inherited from their dad.
Meanwhile, investigators in India are studying the black boxes of the Dreamliner after recovering them from the aircraft wreckage to ascertain the cause the crash.
The black boxes will provide cockpit conversations and data related to the plane’s engine and control settings to investigators. They will also help them determine the cause of the crash.
Experts from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are looking into the crash with help from the UK, the US and officials from Boeing.
New Delhi has set up a separate, high-level committee to examine the causes leading to the crash and establish procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future. The committee is expected to file a preliminary report within three months.
Authorities have also begun inspecting and carrying out extra maintenance and checks on Air India’s entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners to prevent any future incidents. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet.
This week saw the family of three Britons killed in the crash call on the British Government to provide more support on the ground in India.
Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee and their four-year-old daughter, Sara Nanabawa, were returning home to the UK when they died.
Mr Nanabawa ran a recruitment firm, while his wife volunteered at a local Islamic school in Gloucester – where they lived. Members of their family have flown from the UK to Ahmedabad after last week’s tragedy.
A spokesman for the family said: “There is no UK leadership here, no medical team, no crisis professionals stationed at the hospital.
“We are forced to make appointments to see consular staff based 20 minutes away in a hotel, while our loved ones lie unidentified in an overstretched and under-resourced hospital.”
Another family member said: “We’re not asking for miracles – we’re asking for presence, for compassion, for action. Right now, we feel utterly abandoned.”
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokeswoman said its staff continue to work around the clock in the UK and India to support the families and loved ones of all those impacted by the crash.
She pointed to the setting up of a Reception Centre at the Ummed Hotel, near the Ahmedabad airport, and have a dedicated helpline.
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer said on Monday that a team of British inspectors are in India, and the Government is “in contact with all the families of British nationals who have asked for our help”.
In a statement to the Commons, he added: “In Ahmedabad, we have set-up a UK reception centre to help British nationals in person. Four investigators from the Air Accident Investigation Branch arrived on Friday to support work on the ground.”
Mr Falconer went on to say: “We are, of course, also in regular close contact with Air India about the support package that they are offering, which includes funding flights and full repatriation costs to bring loved ones home.
“I understand how frustrating it is for families who have not yet been able to lay their loved ones to rest, and I recognise the pain and frustration that this has caused. The Indian authorities are working around the clock with UK support to be able to do this.”