Air India Plane Crash: Miraculous Escape Stories Of Some Lone Survivors In Last 5 Decades

Hyderabad: A British passenger, Ramesh Viswashkumar, was the lone known survivor out of the 242 people onboard on London-bound Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad.

It was learnt that the 40-year-old man was seated in seat 11A near an emergency exit of the plane and somehow managed to jump out before the aircraft crashed. Visuals after the plane crash showed this man, disoriented with bruises on his face, limping towards an ambulance, helped by medical personnel. Ramesh, who had travelled to India with his brother to visit relatives, said his escape was simply a miracle.

Many of the lone survivors of commercial plane crashes have narrated similar experiences in the past. Stories of some lone survivors follow:

• Juliane Koepcke (December 1971)

One of the most unbelievable plane crashes with lone survivor involves the story of Juliane Koepcke. She was only 17 years old when LANSA Flight 508, a Lockheed L-188A Electra, turboprop and crashed into the Amazon Rainforest. The domestic flight was scheduled to travel from Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima to Coronel FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta International Airport in Iquitos.

However, on December 24, 1971, only 25 minutes after takeoff, the plane flew right into a thunderstorm and began to experience extreme turbulence. A bolt of lightning struck the right wing of the aircraft – and it nose-dived.

Juliane Koepcke said, “The next thing I knew, I was no longer inside the cabin. I was outside, in the open air. I hadn’t left the plane. The plane had left me.” Koepcke fell approximately 10,000 feet, still in her seat belt connected to a bench of three seats. She crashed into the Amazon, was knocked unconscious and woke up the next morning. She then trekked across the rainforest for 11 days before finding civilisation.

• Vesna Vulović (January 1972)

JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367 was a scheduled commercial flight en route from Stockholm, Sweden to Belgrade in Yugoslavia. The aircraft exploded while in the air and crashed in Czechoslovakia, killing 27 people on board. Vulović, a flight attendant, was the only survivor.

She holds the Guinness World Record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute (10,160 metres). Vulović was in a coma, fractured her skull and pelvis, and also broke her vertebrae, legs and ribs. She suffered paralysis from the waist down, before eventually making a total recovery. Even after recovery, she walked with a limp.

• George Lamson Jr. (January 1985)

George Lamson Jr was the only survivor of Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crash on January 21, 1985. "When I was 17, I boarded a charter airliner in Reno, Nevada, that crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 70 people. Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crashed into a Reno field at around 1 am.

• Cecelia Cichan (August 1987)

Cichan was only four years old when Northwest Airlines flight 255, en route from Romulus, Michigan to Phoenix, Arizona, crashed shortly after taking off. Around 156 people died, including two people on the ground. Cichan’s parents and six-year-old brother were among the deceased.

Cichan was buried within the wreckage after the crash. Her skull was fractured, her leg and collarbone were broken and she suffered severe burns (requiring four skin grafts). A firefighter located her after hearing a faint cry, and pulled her out of the wreck.

• Jim Polehinke (August 2006)

Polehinke, was the lone survivor and copilot of Comair Flight 5191, which crashed in Lexington on August 27,2006, killing 49 people.

• Bahia Bakari (June 2009)

Yemenia Flight 626 was heading from Yemen to Comoros, a small country in southern Africa, when it crashed into the Indian Ocean, approximately 15 kilometres off the coast of Grand Comore. Nearly 152 people onboard the plane died and Bakar, a 12-year-old girl from France, was the lone survivor.

She had little swimming ability, had no life vest and could only cling to debris from the crashed aircraft. She floated in the middle of the ocean for nine hours – mostly in complete darkness – before finally being rescued by a privately owned vessel. She had a fractured pelvis and collarbone, some injuries on her face and burns on her knees. Upon being rescued, she was reunited with her father while her mother had died in the crash. She came to be known as “miracle girl”.

• Ruben van Assouw (May 2010)

Nine-year-old Ruben van Assow from the Netherlands survived a horrifying plane crash in Tripoli, Libya. The aircraft exploded and completely disintegrated after arriving from Johannseburg, South Africa into Tripoli. A total of 103 people onboard the aircraft died and the young boy, the sole survivor, was found in the aircraft wreckage. His legs were broken and he experienced the inability to move his body parts. Both of his parents were killed in the crash.

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Air India Plane Crash: British National On Seat 11A Cheats Death As Miracle Survivor Jumped Seconds Before Crash