Waking Up in the Wreckage: The Untold Story of the Sole Survivor
Airline crashed Boeing plane deliberately to discover which seats are safest in an accident
As it emerged on Thursday that a British man had defied the odds to be the only survivor after an Air India flight to Gatwick Airport crashed just seconds after takeoff, commentators praised the 'miracle of seat 11A.'
Sat on the far left of the Boeing 787 flight that departed Ahmedabad in row 11, just behind an emergency exit, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, shocked the world by walking away from a horror that left 241 others dead.
But while his survival may seem frankly impossible to believe, he was sat in a seat which greatly increased his chances of survival compared to other passengers.
In 2012, a Boeing plane was crashed on purpose in the desert for an expensive documentary aiming to find which seats are safest on a plane in the event of such a collision.
And it found that sitting in economy, close to an exit, carried a far higher likelihood of survival than anywhere else.
While offering plenty of perks, first class air travel certainly doesn't come with increased safety.
Scientists conducted the experiment in the Sonaran desert in Mexico, in which they crashed a Boeing 727 carrying dummies with breakable bones, cameras and sensors.
Dummies were arranged in three different positions on board the plane: one in the classic brace and wearing a seat-belt; one belted but not in the brace position; and one neither belted nor in the brace.
The Boeing 727 comes down in a controlled crash in a remote part of Mexico's Sonoran Desert in 2012 - the first 11 rows of seats are ripped out as the nose of the plane dips and the front of the fuselage is sheared off
Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, miraculously survived yesterday's plane disaster. Pictured: Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh in an Ahmedabad hospital on Friday
Parts of an Air India plane that crashed on Thursday are seen on top of a building in Ahmedabad, India, Friday, June 13
After the pilot parachuted out of the plane at 2,500ft, the jet was guided towards the ground by a pilot in a following Cessna via a remote-control device.
The research revealed that economy passengers are more likely to survive a plane crash than those sitting in more expensive seats at the front of the plane.
During the £1.1 million experiment - which was arranged by Channel 4 and television production company Dragonfly - the first 11 rows of seats, typically the most expensive, ripped out as the nose of the plane dipped and the front of the fuselage sheared off.
A force of 12G was recorded in the front of the remaining cabin while, further back in the plane, the force dropped to 6G.
Experts concluded that no first-class passengers would have survived the impact but 78 percent of the remaining passengers would have lived, with the chances of survival increasing the further back they were seated.
The experiment was aimed at helping scientists to study the crash-worthiness of the aircraft's frame and cabin, as well as the impact on the human body.
It is hoped that the findings may help increase the chances of passengers surviving such a crash in the future.
It was only the second time that a jet had been crash-tested this way – the first 'controlled impact demonstration' of a Boeing 720 by Nasa in 1984 ended up as a fireball in California's Mojave Desert.
Wrecked: The deliberate crash-landing of the Boeing 727 shows just how devastating such an impact can be
Important research: The experiment was designed to study the crash-worthiness of the aircraft's airframe and cabin as well as the impact of such disasters on the human body
Groundbreaking experiment: One of the crash test dummies is pictured in the brace position
Anne Evans, a former investigator at the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, inspected the 727's black-box data recorder after the event.
She said the outcome proved that today's jets, which are more sophisticated than the 727 used in the experiment, were well equipped to cope with such crashes.
'It is safer to sit at the back of the aircraft where the flight recorder is. The front is more vulnerable because that often sees higher impact forces.
'I would pick somewhere which is comfortable and within a few rows of an emergency exit', she said.
This could explain how Mr Ramesh was the sole survivor on board - miraculously not killed on impact, he was able to run out the emergency door right in front of him and flee the wreckage.
Sadly his brother Ajay, who was sat on the row across from him, remains missing and is thought to have died.
Mr Ramesh, who lives in London with his wife and child, is being treated at a hospital in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad, where he told doctors that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly split in two.
Dr. Dhaval Gameti, who examined Mr Ramesh, told the Associated Press that he was disoriented with 'multiple injuries all over his body', but that he 'seems to be out of danger.'
Speaking to Indian broadcaster Doordarshan, Mr Ramesh recounted his horrific ordeal, and spoke of how he witnessed two air hostesses die 'in front of my eyes'.
'I don't know how I came out of it alive', he said from his hospital bed.
CCTV footage captured the moment the plane exploded into a fireball
Chilling footage of deadly Air India plane crash site Loaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMute Current Time0:00/Duration Time0:38Full SizeNeed Text 
The plane's sole survivor in hospital with a bloodied face and injuries after the tragic crash, which claimed the life of his younger brother
Astonishing footage showed Mr Ramesh walking away from the scene with some visible injuries to his face
Police said they had found a lone survivor who had been sitting in seat 11A. It is right next to emergency door number two on the Boeing Dreamliner
The plane came down as it appeared to lose power. The pilot made a mayday call as the jet crashed
'For a while, I thought I was about to die. But when I opened my eyes, I saw I was alive. And I opened my seatbelt and got out of there.'
His seat was placed right next to the emergency door, which he says came off when the plane hit the ground.
'The side where I was seated fell into the ground floor of the building,' Mr Ramesh recounted.
'There was some space. When the door broke, I saw that space and I just jumped out.'
'The door must've broken on impact,' he said.
'There was a wall on the opposite side, but near me, it was open. I ran. I don't know how.'
When the plane hit the ground yesterday, seat 11A, where Mr Ramesh was sat, collapsed into the ground floor of the building, instead of the upper levels where the jet's main body was badly destroyed.
Mr Ramesh also described how just moments after take off, it 'felt like the plane had got stuck.'
He recalled how the pilots tried to raise the jet, but it 'went full speed and crashed into the building'.
Mr Ramesh explained how the plane quickly caught fire following the crash, and said he burned his arm.
Debris is seen at the site where Air India flight 171 crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025
The number of fatalities is not yet known but rescuers said at least 30 bodies have so far been recovered from a building
People look at the debris of an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad of India's Gujarat state
Firefighters work at the site of the crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
Rescue team members work as smoke rises at the site in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025
Astonishing footage taken near the crash site yesterday showed Mr Ramesh with visible injuries hobbling away from the jet before he was rushed to hospital for treatment.
The plane momentarily disappeared from view behind trees and buildings before a massive fireball erupted on the horizon in this horrifying clip
A view of the site where a plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India's western state of Gujarat on June 12, 2025
The pilot of the Air India crash frantically warned the plane was 'losing power' just moments before it crashed into a building, killing at least 260 people.
The jet plunged into the busy suburb just seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on Thursday morning, claiming the lives of all but one passenger.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of flying experience, desperately cried 'Mayday…no thrust, losing power, unable to lift' before the aircraft went down and hit a residential property.
Air India later confirmed that 241 of the 242 people aboard flight AI171 died in the crash.
The Boeing was not much more than 400ft above ground when the two experienced pilots onboard apparently lost power in both engines.
Mr Ramesh described yesterday how he heard a 'a loud noise' before the plane crashed.
'When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran.
'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.'
He also said he saw 'flight attendants die' in front of him.
The Indian government has launched an investigation into the fatal crash of the London-bound plane that came down in a residential area of Ahmedabad.
Chunks of the plane's fuselage and tail were seen protruding from a demolished building
+21View gallery
Firefighters work at the site of an airplane that crashed in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Thursday, June12, 2025
Officials said most of the bodies were charred beyond recognition.
India's Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X on Friday that the black box of the crashed plane has been found.
He wrote: 'The flight data recorder (black box) has been recovered within 28 hours from the accident site in Ahmedabad by AAIB (India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau).
'This marks an important step forward in the investigation. This will significantly aid the inquiry into the incident.'
The plane hit a building housing medical students and burst into flames, killing several college students on the ground.
Shocking images and videos showed how black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than five million and the capital of Gujarat.
India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has initiated a probe into the disaster in line with global protocols set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, said Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu in a statement on social media.
A team from the United States is expected to arrive in India to help. The National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and General Electric are all sending experts.
Medics are conducting DNA tests to identify those killed, the national president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, Akshay Dongardiv, said.
Meanwhile, grieving families gathered outside the Civil hospital in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Tributes also began to pour in for the 52 other British nationals believed to have died in the crash.
Harrods brand ambassador Mariam Ali Syed, 35, her husband Javed - a manager at the Best Western Kensington Olympia Hotel - and their children, Zayn, five, and Amani, four, were passengers on stricken Air India Flight 171
Akeel Nanawaba (left), 36, his wife Hannaa (right), 30, and their four-year-old daughter Sarah were flying home from a five-day family celebration when the Air India Dreamliner crashed shortly after take-off. They are also feared to have died in the crash
Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, 45, (right) and husband Fiongal, 39, live in London, run a wellness and healthy lifestyle company called the Wellness Foundry, and had been in India on holiday. They are also believed to have been on the flight
Dr Prateek Joshi, a radiologist who died in the Air India plane crash, was a 'wonderful man' who entertained colleagues with stories about 'his newly-discovered love of fish and chips and enthusiasm for walking in the Peak District', a colleague who worked closely with him said.
Dr Rajeev Singh, consultant radiologist and clinical director for imaging at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB), said: 'Prateek was full of joy, he was a wonderful man, friend, husband and father, and an exceptional radiologist who was highly respected in his field.
'He approached everything with a smile, radiated positivity and had a great sense of humour.
'He moved to Derby, from India, in 2021, quickly becoming a beloved colleague.
'He often entertained colleagues with stories about his passions outside of work, including his newly-discovered love of fish and chips and enthusiasm for walking in the Peak District.
'He touched the lives of so many people, both through his clinical work and as a colleague and friend to many.
'It is hard to accept that a man with such a passion for life, and his beautiful young family, have been taken in this way.
'His passing has left a profound void, not only in his professional contributions but in the warmth and spirit that he gave to the world every day.'
British couple Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, who run a spiritual wellness centre, were said to be among the dead.
Mr Greenlaw-Meek appeared on ITV's This Morning earlier this year, and former editor of the show Martin Frizell praised his 'vibrancy' and 'enthusiasm'.
'So so sad to hear that Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek and his partner are reported to be among the passengers and crew killed today on board the Air India flight bound for Gatwick,' he said in an Instagram post.
'I remember his visit to the studio in January, he was passionate about auras and although I'm a sceptical sort his vibrancy and sheer enthusiasm won folk over.'
The Gloucester Muslim Community group offered 'sincere and deepest condolences' after Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa and their daughter Sara were reported to be among the victims.
'During this moment of overwhelming sorrow, our hearts go out to all those left behind,' a statement said.
'No words can truly ease the pain of such a profound loss, but we pray that the family may find solace in the tremendous outpouring of compassion and solidarity from communities across the world.'
Harrods brand ambassador Mariam Ali Syed, 35, her husband Javed - a manager at the Best Western Kensington Olympia Hotel - and their children, Zayn, five, and Amani, four, were also passengers on stricken Air India Flight 171.
Zayn and Amani are believed to be the youngest named victims of the crash so far.
Mrs Ali Syed's sister-in-law, Yasmine Hassan, 45, broke down while confirming the children's names, and pleaded with officials to offer more support to the families of the 53 British citizens onboard the flight.
'They are so small, they are five and four. And it's just thinking how scared they must have been,' she told the Telegraph.
'We're not angry about the lack of answers [from UK government officials] – we understand that takes time.
'We're angry because no one has reached out to offer support or even ask if we need anything. These are British citizens.'
Aviation experts have speculated about a number of possible causes for the crash, from both engines failing - possibly due to a bird strike, as happened in the so-called Miracle on the Hudson in 2009 - to the flaps on the aircraft's wings not being set to the correct position for take-off.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site and a local hospital on Friday morning.
Tata Group, the parent company of Air India, said it would provide 10 million rupees (around £86,000) to the families of each of those killed in the crash.
The company said it would also cover the medical costs of the injured and provide support in the 'building up' of the medical college.