Safest spot in a plane: Lone survivor's escape from seat 11A sparks debate

The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane, which was full of fuel as it took off for a long-haul flight to London, exploded into a burst of orange flame on Thursday afternoon just after taking off

The lone survivor of 242 people aboard a London-bound passenger plane that crashed in Ahmedabad said Friday how even he was struggling to explain how he miraculously walked out alive from the fireball explosion.

"Everything happened in front of me, and even I couldn't believe how I managed to come out alive from that," British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh said from his hospital bed on Friday.Ramesh -- who was in seat 11A according to media reports -- was the only one aboard the plane not to be killed, with at least 24 others killed on the ground.

Sitting by the aisle might offer you a speedier escape but it increases the likelihood of being hit in the head by luggage falling out of the overhead bins - a much more common occurrence than major crashes.

The survival of a passenger who escaped through an exit door seconds after his Air India flight crashed killing everyone else on board has prompted speculation over whether his seat, 11A, is the safest. Viswashkumar Ramesh said his 11A seat was near an emergency exit on the London-bound Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday and he managed to walk out.

Aviation experts say it is not so straightforward because aircraft vary widely in seat configurations, crashes are unique and survival often hinges on a complex interplay of factors.

"Each accident is different, and it is impossible to predict survivability based on seat location," said Mitchell Fox to Reuters, a director at Flight Safety Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit.

Sitting next to an exit door might help you survive an accident but it won't always be 11A because aircraft can have dozens of different configurations.

"In this particular instance, because the passenger was sitting adjacent to the emergency exit, this was obviously the safest seat on the day," said Ron Bartsch to Reuters, Chairman at Sydney-based AvLaw Aviation Consulting.

"But it's not always 11A, it's just 11A on this configuration of the Boeing 787."

A 2007 Popular Mechanics study of crashes since 1971 found that passengers towards the back of the plane had better survival odds. Some experts suggest the wing section offers more stability.

Sitting next to an exit door, like Ramesh, gives you an opportunity to be one of the first out of the plane, although some exits don't function after a crash. The opposite side of the plane was blocked by the wall of a building it crashed into, he said.

In January of last year, a panel missing several bolts blew off the side of a Boeing 737 MAX mid-flight, creating a gaping hole and damaging the adjacent seat. Fortunately, no one was seated there at the time, and the incident resulted in no fatalities.