Sole Survivor of Air India Flight AI71 Crash Walks Away from Deadly Gujarat Disaster

Miracle Survivor of Air India Crash

• ✈️ A British national, Vishvas Kumar Romesh, is the sole survivor of Air India flight AI71, which crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport.
• 🩸 Romesh, who was in seat 11A, described a loud noise 30 seconds after takeoff, followed by the crash, and found himself surrounded by bodies.
• 🚶 He reportedly escaped by jumping out of an emergency window, walking away from the wreckage with blood stains and soot smudges, and a limp.

Tragic Loss of Life and Notable Passenger

• 💔 The crash resulted in the deaths of all 241 other passengers and crew on board.
• 🏛️ Among the deceased was former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was in seat 2D.
• 🕊️ Rupani, who served from 2016 to 2021, is the second Gujarat chief minister to die in a plane crash, the first being Balvantra Ma in 1965 during the Indo-Pakistan war.

Flight Details and Potential Causes

• 💥 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was airborne for only 30 seconds, unable to gain significant altitude before crashing into a residential neighborhood and a doctor's hostel, causing a massive fireball.
• ⚠️ The pilot issued a Mayday call moments before the crash, but there was no subsequent response from air traffic control.
• 📈 Initial flight data indicated the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 625 ft before descending.
• 🐦 Potential causes being investigated include an engineering issue or multiple bird hits that could have caused both engines to lose power, preventing the plane from achieving takeoff speed.

Ongoing Investigation

• 🧳 All attention is now focused on the aircraft's black box, containing the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, to determine the cause of the crash.