11A, the economy class seat of the lone AI171 plane crash survivor

Air India's AI171 flight crashed after takeoff, killing 241 people. The only survivor, seated in 11A near an emergency exit, may have escaped due to the seat's location. The plane gave a MAYDAY call but soon lost contact

Ahmedabad: ’11A’ was one of the 238 economy class seats in the ill-fated Air India Dreamliner that crashed on Thursday, killing 241 people onboard and leaving just one survivor.

And the lone survivor — a British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh (45) — was the occupant of ’11A’. The Boeing 787-8 aircraft, better known as the Dreamliner, operating the Ahmedabad-London AI171 flight, had 242 people onboard, including 12 crew members.

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’11A’ is among the six seats in the first row of the economy class of Air India’s B787-8 planes. It is the window seat near one of the emergency exit doors as well as the aircraft galley area, according to the seat map.

While it might be too early to conclude on the factors that helped Ramesh exit the aircraft that went up in flames, being seated near the emergency exit door could be one of the reasons for his miraculous escape.

Currently, there are 27 B787-8 planes in the Air India fleet and each of them has 238 economy and 18 business class seats. All these aircraft are set to go for retrofit in the coming months.

Air India has confirmed that 241 people onboard the AI171 flight have died. “The good news is that one person survived the crash…,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday after meeting Ramesh and visiting the crash site. Of the 242 people who were in the aircraft, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were British nationals, 7 were Portuguese nationals, and 1 Canadian national.

According to the Air Traffic Control (ATC), the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from Runway 23. It gave a MAYDAY Call to ATC, but thereafter, no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC, according to the DGCA statement. The aircraft, immediately after departure from Runway 23 fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter, it said soon after the crash.