'I thought I was going to die': Air India crash survivor recalls harrowing escape through broken emergency exit

The sole known survivor of the ill-fated Air India flight AI171 recalled his harrowing escape from the plane after it crashed on Jun. 12.

He escaped through a broken emergency exit.

Speaking to India state media DD News on Jun. 14,  Ramesh Vishwaskumar Bucharvada, a 40-year-old British national, said the plane felt "stuck" within minutes of take-off.

The pilot appeared to struggle to control the plane, and it soon crashed into a hostel building for medical doctors.

At least four students and four doctors' relatives died from the impact, reported BBC.

At that moment, Viswashkumar "thought [he] was going to die".

"But when I opened my eyes, I realised I was alive, and tried to unbuckle myself from the seat and escape," he said according to Sky News.

"I saw the cabin crew and the others die, right in front of my eyes."

The escape

The plane had landed on the hostel, but the part where Viswashkumar was sitting at — right behind an emergency exit row — was on the ground.

The emergency exit hatch broke, and he saw "a little space" through which he could escape from the crash.

But the opposite side of the plane was blocked by one of the building's walls, so nobody could have escaped from there, he said.

"I [didn't] jump, I just walked out," he recalled.

The aircraft had already been on fire when he escaped. After he exited, there was an explosion, he told DD News.

"When the fire erupted I burnt my left hand. Then the ambulance brought me to the hospital."

"But still I don't know how I survived...I can't explain. It's a miracle, everything."

The injured man had previously been seen limping towards an ambulance in a bloodstained T-shirt.

He still had his boarding pass with him, Hindustan Times reported.

"Deep sorrow": Air India CEO

In a two-and-a-half-minute video address to the public, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson expressed his "deep sorrow" about the incident.

"This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India, and our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones," he said.

Air India is actively working with authorities on emergency response efforts, with a special team of caregivers dispatched to provide additional support.

"The investigations will take time, but anything we can do now, we are doing," he said in the Jun. 12 message.

The flight, which was travelling from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, had been carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.

At least 240 people are dead in the crash's aftermath.

Top image from DD India