Ahmedabad, India. Viswashkumar Ramesh thought he was going to die when the Air India flight he had just boarded failed to gain altitude and plunged into a residential neighborhood. He was the only passenger to survive a fiery crash that killed 241 people on board and several others on the ground.

“I still can’t believe I’m alive,” Ramesh told India’s national broadcaster on Friday from his hospital bed. He described how the Boeing 787 seemed to stall after takeoff. The cabin lights flickered, then the plane surged forward, only to crash moments later into a building housing a medical college hostel.

The section where Ramesh was seated struck the ground floor, creating a gap that allowed him to escape after the aircraft door broke open. “I unfastened my seat belt and forced myself out. When I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive,” he said.

The crash, one of India’s deadliest air disasters in recent memory, occurred Thursday just minutes after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The London-bound Dreamliner struck the hostel building, igniting a massive fire that killed multiple students and left many others severely burned.

On Friday, investigators recovered the aircraft’s digital flight data recorder, commonly known as the black box, from a rooftop near the crash site. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said it had launched a full investigation “with full force.”

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu called the recovery a critical step and confirmed that additional inspections had been ordered for all Air India Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 jets equipped with General Electric GEnx engines. The inspections will cover key systems including engine control, hydraulics, cabin air compression, and fuel parameters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site and met with survivors at the hospital. “We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad,” he said on social media. “The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words.”

Authorities are conducting DNA testing to identify bodies, many of which were charred beyond recognition. At least four medical students killed on the ground have been identified and returned to their families, doctors said. Another 30 students remain hospitalized, four of them in critical condition.

The 12-year-old Boeing 787 involved in the crash was part of a fleet taken over by Tata Sons in 2022 when the conglomerate regained control of the debt-laden Air India. Since the acquisition, the airline has been undergoing restructuring, including fleet expansion and rebranding.

This marks the first fatal crash involving a Dreamliner since the aircraft entered commercial service 16 years ago, though Boeing has faced increasing scrutiny over safety across multiple aircraft lines.

US agencies, including the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing, and General Electric, are expected to join the investigation.

Prof. Graham Braithwaite, director of Aerospace and Aviation at Cranfield University, said the investigation’s focus would be on identifying “opportunities to prevent future accidents.”

Meanwhile, residents near the crash site described the destruction in harrowing detail. “There was thick smoke everywhere, and small pieces of the plane were on fire,” said local resident Indrajeet Singh Solanki, who helped transport injured passengers to hospitals. “It will be hard to sleep for the next few days at least.”

Bomb Threat Diverts Thailand Flight

In a separate incident, Air India flight AI 379 from Phuket to New Delhi made an emergency return to Phuket International Airport on Friday after a bomb threat was discovered in a lavatory. All 156 passengers were evacuated, and the plane was inspected. Thai authorities found no explosives. The flight resumed later in the day, minus one passenger who declined to continue.

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