Exit 11A to survival: The lone man who walked out of Air India wreck alive

Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh

Exit Row

He sat in 11A, a seat most ignore—until it became his only path to survival. In a shredded fuselage, that one door changed everything.

Seconds Shattered

Thirty seconds after takeoff, the plane exploded into chaos. In that instant, pressure, metal, and fate collapsed into one terrifying decision.

Forced Open

Emergency exits aren’t supposed to open mid-air. But when a plane tears apart on the runway, rules no longer apply—just instinct and luck.

Survivor’s Sprint

Bloodied and disoriented, he woke up amid bodies. His escape? A gaping exit door—and a sprint through smoke that made history.

Pressure Drop

Why couldn’t the others escape? Cabin pressure, fire, and split-second physics turned the rest of the aircraft into a deadly trap.

Row 11 Curse

The exit seat offers legroom and risk. For Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, it was both blessing and battlefield—the difference between life and oblivion.

No One Else

When fire crews arrived, they found one man alive—just one. His path out was narrow, charred, and steeped in silence.

Exit Logic

You can’t open the door mid-air—but you can when the plane no longer holds its shape. Here's how the crash unlocked the unopenable.

Crash Science

Experts say survival isn’t random. It’s physics, placement, and proximity to exits. He had all three—and a pulse when others didn’t.