Against the backdrop of the Air India AI171 tragedy, fears about flights have once again come to the fore. The crash of a Boeing 787-8 was a shock: out of all the passengers, only one person survived—a 40-year-old British man, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. He was saved by a lucky set of circumstances, a quick response, and his seat being near an emergency exit in the more robust part of the fuselage.
Cases like this, though extremely rare, draw wide attention and can create the illusion that such catastrophes happen frequently. However, statistics indicate the opposite. According to the World Health Organization, deaths from accidental household poisoning worldwide are 140 times higher than deaths from aviation accidents each year. And what is the likelihood of slipping in a bathroom?
Today, the number of victims of air crashes is four times lower than in the previous decade. This is the result of ongoing improvements in technology, training, and international standards. So it is reasonable to say that flying is not a lottery, but rather one of the most reliable and carefully designed ways to travel.
Source: The Guardian
URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/13/miraculous-how-did-passenger-in-seat-11a-vishwash-kumar-ramesh-survive-air-india-crash?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Source date: 2025-06-20T08:21:57.801Z
