'He sat in the same...': 27 years ago, a Thai singer survived plane crash. His seat number? 11A
&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "'He sat in the same...': 27 years ago, a Thai singer survived plane crash. His seat number? 11A")
Two people were in the same seat, 11A, when their planes crashed, first in 1998 and then in 2025.
Ahmedabad plane crash: In 1998, Thai singer James Ruangsak Loychusak, in seat 11A, survived a plane crash. 27 years later, another man in the same seat escaped an accident that killed everyone but him.
History repeated itself 27 years later when a British-Indian man, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, survived a plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday (June 12). The 40-year-old was seated in 11A of the Air India plane, which went down 30 seconds after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport. In 1998, a Thai Airways plane crashed, killing 101 people. There were a few survivors, including Thai singer James Ruangsak Loychusak, who was in the exact seat number - 11A.
Ruangsak has expressed shock at the coincidence after hearing about the miracle survivor. In a Facebook post, Ruangsak wrote, "Survivor of a plane crash in India. He sat in the same seat as me. 11A."
“Goosebumps. My condolences to all those who lost.”
The Thai singer was on Thai Airways flight TG261 which crashed while attempting to land in December 1998. It was travelling from Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport to Surat Thani International Airport in Surat Thani. There were a total of 146 people on board the plane, including 132 passengers and 14 crew members.
The captain of the flight, Pinit Vechasilp, had 10,167 flight hours, while the first officer, Saen Chalermsaenyakorn, had 2,839 flight hours.
Thai singer Ruangsak was traumatised for life
Ruangsak was one of the survivors and was so traumatised by the accident that he didn't fly again for almost 10 years. He was travelling for a performance and the incident left him emotionally scarred forever, The Telegraph reported.
The Air India flight AI171 was going to London Gatwick with 242 people on board. The plane was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Ramesh only vaguely managed to recall how he escaped the tragic accident. He says he doesn't know how he survived. His seat was right next to the emergency door, and it came off when the plane crashed into the hostel building.
He unbuckled his seat belt and escaped through it. Talking to the media, Ramesh recalled, "For a while, I thought I was about to die. But when I opened my eyes, I saw I was alive. And I opened my seat belt and got out of there. The airhostess and aunty uncle all died before my eyes."
He said he was closer to the ground floor and there was space to escape. Immediately after, the plane caught fire. Ramesh is being treated at a hospital where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid him a visit.
