The recent Air India crash in Ahmedabad was one of the most devastating plane crashes that India has seen in a decade. The ill-fated aircraft, which took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12, 2025, soon plunged into the hostel building of BJ Medical College, immediately breaking into a fire. The flight, AI-171, ended in the death of all 241 passengers, leaving only a single survivor, British citizen, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, now popularly called the ‘Passenger 11A’.
In a chilling twist of fate, Thai singer and actor, Ruangsak James Loychusak, a former plane crash survivor, has revealed an uncanny connection with Vishwash. He also sat in the exact same seat, 11A, 26 years ago.
Thai actor draws eerie parallel between the Air India crash and a Thai Airways crash from 26 years ago
Ruangsak James Loychusak, now 47 years old, was just a young rising star when Thai Airways Flight TG-261 plummeted to a tragic crash into a swamp while attempting to land in Surat Thani, Thailand, on December 11, 1998. The aircraft carried a total of 146 occupants, including 14 crew members and 132 passengers. The accident claimed 101 lives, with only 45 survivors. Loychusak, seated in 11A, miraculously made it out alive from the mangled wreckage submerged in a swamp.
Fast forward 26 years, British-Indian passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old who was returning from India with his brother, Ajay, became the lone survivor of Air India’s catastrophic crash in Ahmedabad. Shockingly, he, too, had been seated in 11A, the very spot that once saved Ruangsak’s life. Upon learning of this bizarre coincidence, Ruangsak posted on Facebook:
“The lone survivor of the plane crash in India was sitting in the same seat number as me, 11A. Goosebumps. My condolences to all those who lost their loved ones.”
Former crash survivor, Ruangsak, recounts the haunting of the crash of 1998
More than two decades have now passed since that disastrous event, but for Ruangsak, the psychological scars of that fateful day run deep. The singer-actor had previously opened up about the trauma that haunted him for a decade after the Thai Airways crash. The MailOnline quoted his account of the event:
“I avoided speaking to anyone and always stared outside the window, blocking anyone from closing it to maintain my sense of safety. If I saw dark clouds or a rainstorm outside, I would feel terrible, like I was in hell. I can still remember the sounds, smells, and even the taste of the water in the swamp the plane crashed into. For a long time, I would keep the feelings to myself.”
It took him ten years to regain the courage to board a plane without feeling anxious or sick. Though his boarding pass is now lost, news archives confirmed Ruangsak was indeed the passenger 11A on that plane.
Is 11A a lucky seat, or just a coincidence?
After Vishwash’s miraculous survival in the Air India crash, seat 11A has drawn attention, with some hailing it as a lucky seat. Ruangsak’s eerie revelation of surviving a similar crash from the same seat could only fuel this belief. However, aviation experts clarify that survival depends on the seat’s position near an exit, not the seat number itself. Sydney-based AvLaw Aviation Consulting’s chairman, Ron Bartsch, told Reuters:
“In this particular instance, because the passenger was sitting adjacent to the emergency exit, this was obviously the safest seat on the day. But it’s not always 11A, it’s just 11A on this configuration of the Boeing 787.”
What are your thoughts on former 11A passenger, Ruangsak’s recollection of surviving the Thai Airways crash?
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