The lone survivor of a tragic plane crash that left over 260 people dead had one heartbreaking question for medics when he was in hospital. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was travelling to the UK from India with his younger brother Ajay, 35, on June 12.
The pair were on Air India Flight 171 when it left Ahmedabad for London Gatwick on June 12. Less than 40 seconds after take off, the plane plunged into the densely populated area below.
Ajay was one of the 229 passengers that died in the crash. Another 12 members of crew and 19 people on the ground also died.
Another 60 people are said to have been injured. Moments after the crash, onlookers were left stunned when Vishwash emerged from the wreckage.
He was later taken to Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad for treatment. While there, he was interviewed by Kuldeep Tiwari, Assistant Editor at the Ahmedabad Mirror.
Speaking on Channel 5’s Air India Disaster: The Unanswered Questions, which airs tonight, Kuldeep says: “He was looking for something around. He was in so much trauma and stress and he was constantly asking for his brother.”
Dr Rakesh Joshi from the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad added: “The only thing he was asking about is how is my brother. We instructed each and every one not to say he is the lone survivor, the whole world knows, except for Vishwah that he is the only survivor.”
Vishwash eventually discovered the tragic reality, and just six days after the horror crash, he was filmed carrying Ajay’s coffin to his funeral. His face was still bandaged up at the time.
Channel 5 News presenter Katherine Nash said: “He’s still visibly injured, he’s got some bruising, he’s got some bandages on, but he is able to be there for his family at that really important moment.”
After the crash, Vishwash, from Leicestershire, told Indian television that he “managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door”. Vishwash explained: “I managed to unbuckle myself, used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out.”
His seat, 11A, was next to both the exit and the toilet cubicle. Experts believe where he was sat, an area known as the “wing box” is the strongest part of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, reports The Guardian.
“There is not just the fuselage, but the extra structure of the wing to protect from the compression of the fuselage,” Prof John McDermid, Lloyd’s Register chair of safety at the University of York explained.
Investigators are now continuing to piece together what happened for the plane to lose altitude moments after take-off. They will comb cockpit voice and flight data recorders in the plane to work out what led to the crash.
ICAO, the aviation body, says preliminary reports should be released within 30 days of a crash, with a final report ideally released within 12 months.
Air India Disaster: The Unanswered Questions airs on Wednesday 2nd July at 8pm on 5 produced by ITN Productions