'30 seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise': Ahmedabad crash survivor recalls flight

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the only surviving passenger in the Ahmedabad plane crash, has said that trouble began just 30 seconds into the flight.

Air India flight AI171 on Thursday crashed minutes after takeoff at around 2 pm in Ahmedabad’s Meghaninagar area. The plane crashed into doctor’s residential quarters at the BJ Medical College. Police Commissioner GS Malik said that at least 204 bodies have been recovered from among the flight’s passengers and crew and residents of the buildings that the plane hit.

Undergoing treatment at the state-run Civil Hospital, Ramesh told Hindustan Times that the plane crashed soon after he heard a louse noise just 30 seconds into the flight.

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“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” said Ramesh.

Ramesh, 40, said that he was travelling to London with his brother Ajay Kumar Ramesh, 45. He said he was in India to visit his family.

Ramesh further said, “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.”

Ramesh said that he had been living in London for 20 years. He said he has a wife and a child in London.

Ahmedabad Police Commissioner Malik said earlier that one survivor had been found among the passengers of the Air India flight.

“The police found one survivor in seat number 11A,” said Malik, according to CNN-News 18.

The Air India flight was carrying 242 passengers and 12 crew members. Malik told AFP, “We have found 204 bodies.”

Malik added that 41 injured people were “under treatment”.