Before the world was captivated by the miraculous story of Vishwash Kumar Ramesh—the lone survivor of the devastating 2025 Air India crash—another incredible tale of survival once amazed the globe. It happened more than five decades earlier, when a young flight attendant lived through what should have been certain death at 33,000 feet.
On January 26, 1972, JAT Flight 367 was flying from Copenhagen to Belgrade when catastrophe struck. A powerful explosion ripped through the plane mid-air as it passed over Czechoslovakia. Investigations later pointed to a suspected bomb hidden in the baggage compartment. The aircraft broke apart in the sky, killing 27 of the 28 people on board. The only person to survive was a 22-year-old flight attendant named Vesna Vulović.
Vesna’s survival stunned aviation experts. At the time of the explosion, she had been pinned inside the rear part of the plane by a food cart. That section was torn from the rest of the aircraft and plummeted to the ground, crashing into a snow-covered, forested area. The dense trees and deep snow cushioned the impact to some extent. Against all odds, Vesna was found alive by Bruno Honke, a local man and former World War II medic, who gave her emergency treatment until rescuers arrived.
Though she suffered severe injuries—including a fractured skull, broken legs, and crushed vertebrae—Vesna came out of a coma days later with no memory of the fall. After a long recovery and rehabilitation, she regained partial mobility and later returned to her airline job, though only in a non-flying capacity.
Her story quickly gained worldwide attention. She was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the person who survived the highest fall without a parachute. In Yugoslavia, Vesna became a national hero, representing strength, hope, and resilience. Rather than seeking fame or profit, she used her platform to promote peace and the value of life. Vesna Vulović passed away in 2016 at age 66, but her survival remains one of aviation’s most incredible feats.
How Vishwash Kumar Ramesh Survived the Air India Plane Crash
On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight AI171 crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad, claiming the lives of 241 people on board as well as several others on the ground. Yet out of this horrific tragedy, one man emerged alive—Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national.
Ramesh had been seated in seat 11A, located in an emergency exit row toward the front section of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Experts believe that his position may have contributed to his survival. His seat was near the aircraft’s “wing box”, a part of the structure known for its strength, which might have shielded him during the crash.
Just moments after takeoff, the plane lost control and crashed into nearby buildings, disintegrating on impact. Ramesh later said he initially believed he had died. But when he came to, he noticed a large opening near his seat—possibly a ripped fuselage section or a dislodged emergency door. Acting quickly, he unbuckled his seatbelt, pushed through the gap using his leg, and managed to crawl out of the wreck before flames engulfed the wreckage.
His survival was nothing short of extraordinary. Like Vesna Vulović decades earlier, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh defied the odds in a moment of utter chaos and destruction. While each story occurred in very different circumstances, both stand as powerful reminders of human resilience in the face of disaster.
