When we talk about aviation, we usually talk about numbers. On-time departures. Ticket prices. Legroom. But when things go wrong at thirty thousand feet, the conversation shifts to something much more visceral: the human capacity to endure the impossible. Most people assume that a major jetliner accident has a binary outcome. You either make it or you don't. Yet, the history of Air India is marked by several high-profile tragedies where the line between life and death was paper-thin. Looking at the survivors of Air India crash events isn't just about morbid curiosity; it’s about understanding the chaotic, often miraculous physics of how people walk away from twisted metal.
It's heavy stuff. Honestly, it’s some of the most intense survival data we have in modern aviation history.
The Mangalore Miracle and the Tragedy of Flight 812
In May 2010, Air India Express Flight 812 overshot the runway in Mangalore. It was a Boeing 737-800. It didn't just slide; it plummeted off a cliff into a ravine. Most of the 160 passengers didn't make it. But eight people did. They weren't just "lucky"—they were proactive in a way that defies logic given the sheer terror of the moment.
Take Pradeep Singh Kolath, for instance. He was one of those eight. While the plane was tearing apart and fire was devouring the cabin, he didn't wait for instructions. He saw a crack in the fuselage. He jumped. It sounds simple when you write it down, but imagine doing that while surrounded by jet fuel fumes and the screams of a hundred people. Another survivor, Joel Pratap D'Souza, actually managed to scramble out of the wreckage before the plane exploded into a massive fireball.
The Mangalore crash changed how we look at "unsurvivable" accidents. It proved that even in a hull loss where the aircraft is completely destroyed, pockets of survival exist. These survivors didn't have a secret manual. Most of them were seated near the middle or the wings, and they all shared a singular trait: they moved immediately. There was no "negative suggestion" or freezing up. They saw a gap and they took it.
What Happened on the Kozhikode Tabletop?
Fast forward to August 2020. Air India Express Flight 1344. Similar vibes to Mangalore, honestly. It was another tabletop runway, this time at Kozhikode (Calicut) during a brutal monsoon. The plane skidded, fell 35 feet, and broke in two.
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Here is the weird part.
Unlike Mangalore, there was no fire. That is why the number of survivors of Air India crash at Kozhikode was so much higher. Out of 190 people on board, 169 survived. Think about that for a second. The plane literally snapped in half, yet the majority of people walked away or were carried out alive.
The lack of a post-crash fire is the only reason we aren't talking about 190 fatalities. Local residents from the Kondotty area rushed to the site despite the COVID-19 risks at the time. They were pulling children out of the debris before the official rescue teams even arrived. It was a chaotic, wet, muddy mess. Survivors later described the sensation of the "thud" and then suddenly seeing the night sky because the roof of the plane was just... gone.
The Kanishka Bombing and the Zero Survival Rate
We have to talk about the dark side of this history, too. Not every crash has a survivor story. When we look at Air India Flight 182—often called the Kanishka—there were no survivors. None. On June 23, 1985, a bomb went off while the plane was over the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland.
When a plane disintegrates at altitude due to an explosive device, the physics of survival basically drop to zero. The 329 people on board didn't have a chance. This remains the deadliest act of aviation terrorism in Canadian history and a permanent scar on India's national airline. It’s the baseline of tragedy that makes the stories of the Mangalore or Kozhikode survivors feel even more miraculous. It reminds us that survival is often a matter of structural integrity and whether or not the fuel tanks decide to ignite.
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The Psychology of Coming Back from the Brink
Survival isn't just about physical health. Most of the people who walked away from these wrecks struggle with what experts call "Survivor's Guilt." Why did Pradeep get out of the Mangalore wreck while the person in the seat next to him didn't? There isn't a logical answer.
I’ve read accounts from several survivors who say they can’t even handle the sound of a heavy rainstorm anymore. For the Kozhikode survivors, the sound of the rain on the tin roofs of the rescue area was a sensory trigger that brought them right back to the moment the wheels lost grip on the runway.
Psychiatrists who work with air disaster survivors note that the "return to normalcy" is a myth. You don't return. You just build a new life around the memory of the old one. The physical scars heal—Pradeep had burns and fractures—but the mental load of being one of the few to survive a mass-casualty event is a lifelong burden.
Why Some People Live and Others Don't
Aviation safety experts, like those at the NTSB or India’s DGCA, look at these survivor stories to build better planes. We've learned a few things from the survivors of Air India crash incidents over the decades:
- The 90-Second Rule: If you can’t get out in 90 seconds, your chances drop exponentially because of smoke inhalation.
- Seatbelt Tension: Many injuries in the Kozhikode crash were internal because of the sheer force of the stop. The seatbelts saved lives but also caused massive bruising and organ trauma.
- The "Plus Five" Rule: Most crashes happen during the first three minutes of takeoff or the last eight minutes of landing. Survivors often mention they had their shoes on and were "ready," even if they didn't consciously expect a crash.
It’s kinda haunting to realize that something as simple as keeping your shoes on during landing can be the difference between being able to run across hot debris or getting stuck in the cabin.
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The Role of the Tabletop Runway
If you're looking for a pattern, look at the geography. Both Mangalore and Kozhikode are "tabletop" runways. They are built on top of hills with steep drops at the end. There is zero room for error. If a pilot touches down too late—which happened in both cases—the plane becomes a giant metal sled.
The survivors of these specific crashes often describe a feeling of "weightlessness" right before the impact. That’s the moment the plane leaves the solid ground of the plateau and enters the air again before hitting the valley floor. It is a terrifyingly specific type of accident that Air India has unfortunately dealt with more than most airlines.
What We Can Learn From These Stories
The data from the survivors of Air India crash tells a story of evolving safety. In the 1960s and 70s, a crash usually meant 100% fatality. Today, because of fire-retardant materials in the seats and better fuselage engineering, we see people walking away from accidents that look like they should have been unsurvivable.
The biggest takeaway? Human agency matters. In almost every survivor account from Air India accidents, the person who lived was the person who took a decisive action. They unbuckled. They moved toward light. They didn't wait for a flight attendant—who might have been incapacitated—to tell them what to do.
If you ever find yourself on a flight, especially one landing in a monsoon or on a tricky runway, don't just tune out the safety briefing. Knowing where that emergency exit is isn't just a formality. For the eight people in Mangalore, it was the only thing that mattered in the world for about sixty seconds.
Practical Steps for Air Safety Awareness
You don't need to live in fear of flying, but being an "active" passenger changes your odds. If you want to take the lessons from these survivors seriously, do these three things every time you fly:
- Count the Rows: Don't just look for the exit. Count the seat backs between you and the nearest door. If the cabin is full of smoke, you won't be able to see. You’ll have to feel your way out.
- Keep Your Shoes On: This is the most common advice from crash investigators. You cannot run away from a burning wreck or climb over jagged metal in socks or flip-flops.
- The Bracing Position Works: It’s not just to protect your head; it’s to prevent your legs from flying forward and snapping under the seat in front of you. If your legs are broken, you can't exit.
The history of Air India is a mix of incredible technical achievement and some of the most heart-wrenching tragedies in the sky. The survivors are the living evidence of what we’ve gotten right—and how much further we have to go in making tabletop landings safer for everyone.