“I Don’t Know How I’m Alive”: A Survivor’s Haunting Account of the Air India Crash
The world often sees statistics when tragedies strike – numbers of dead, numbers of injured, details of the incident. But behind every number is a human story, a life irrevocably altered. For one survivor of the recent Air India crash, the memory isn’t a statistic; it’s a terrifying, visceral experience, and a question that echoes in the quiet moments: “I don’t know how I’m alive.”
We’ll call him Rohan. His voice, though calm now, still carries the faint tremor of a man who has stared death in the face and, against all odds, walked away. Rohan was on board the ill-fated Air India flight, a routine journey that transformed in an instant into a nightmare of fire, smoke, and sheer terror.
“One moment, we were preparing for landing, the usual announcements,” Rohan recounts, his gaze distant. “The next, there was a jolt, unlike anything I’ve ever felt. Then another, violent one. It was chaos. People were screaming, things were flying everywhere.”
The specifics of the crash are still under investigation, but for those on board, it was a blur of horrifying sensory overload. “I remember the smell of burning fuel, the acrid smoke filling the cabin,” Rohan continues, his hand unconsciously clutching at his chest. “And the sound… the grinding, tearing metal. It’s a sound I’ll never forget.”
Amidst the pandemonium, Rohan’s instincts took over. “I braced myself, tried to make myself as small as possible,” he explains. “It felt like an eternity, but it must have been mere seconds. When everything finally stopped, there was this eerie silence, punctuated only by groans and the crackling of fire.”
Emerging from the wreckage, disoriented and injured, Rohan’s immediate thought wasn’t about himself, but about the others. “I saw… things I wish I hadn’t,” he says, his voice dropping to a whisper. “But then I saw people moving, heard faint cries for help. That’s when the adrenaline kicked in.”
He describes a scene of heroic, spontaneous action among the survivors – people helping pull others from the mangled seats, guiding the injured towards exits, all while the danger of further explosions loomed. “Everyone was just trying to help, despite their own pain and fear,” Rohan recalls, a glint of admiration in his eyes. “It was incredible, the human spirit in that moment.”
Rohan’s physical injuries are significant, a stark reminder of the ordeal. But it’s the invisible wounds that run deeper. “Sleep is difficult,” he admits. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m back there. The sounds, the smells, the feeling of helplessness.”
Yet, despite the trauma, there is a profound sense of gratitude. “I just keep thinking, why me? Why did I survive when so many others didn’t?” he asks, a question without an answer. “I don’t know how I’m alive. But I am. And I know I have to make every moment count.”
Rohan’s story is a powerful testament to the fragility of life and the incredible resilience of the human spirit. While investigations will continue to seek answers about the crash, Rohan’s personal journey has shifted from the horror of the event to the profound mystery of his survival. He may never fully understand why he was spared, but his experience serves as a stark reminder that behind every tragedy, there are human beings grappling with loss, finding strength in unexpected places, and, for some, living with the haunting question: “How am I alive?”
