The pilot on the Air India plane that crashed saved the lives of 18 families by steering his failing Boeing 787 Dreamliner away from their apartment building in Ahmedabad.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal diverted the doomed aircraft at the last possible moment despite catastrophic engine failure after take-off.
Only one person survived out of 242 when the jet crashed into a doctor's accommodation building at the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital.
The impact and subsequent fireball from 90 tonnes of aviation fuel claimed dozens more lives among students and staff.
The pilot has been hailed a 'hero' by locals
AFP
Residents beneath the flight path expressed profound gratitude for Captain Sabharwal's actions, crediting him with saving their lives.
The 55-year-old aviator, who had 8,200 hours of flying experience, managed to redirect the aircraft away from the large apartment block.
"Thanks to the pilot Captain Sabharwal, we survived. He's a hero. It is because of him we are alive," said Jahanvi Rajput, 28, whose home narrowly escaped destruction.
Rajput added: "The green space next to us was visible to him and that's where he went."
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The plane crashed into a doctor's accommodation building at the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital
REUTERS
The pilot, described by colleagues as "a good, quiet person," was the primary carer for his father in his 80s.
The aircraft's impact obliterated the top two floors of a disused four-storey military building before flames engulfed the medical college hostel.
Local resident Geeta Patni, 48, whose home stood perilously close to the crash site, described the terrifying moments.
"The building was shaking. We were so scared. Any closer and we would have died. The pilot saved us," she told The Sun.
Wreckage from the Air India plane crash
REUTERS
Recovery teams have retrieved all bodies from the site, with only 32 victims identified thus far.
Residents who escaped the tragedy emphasised the scale of devastation that was averted.
Local in the area, Chancal Bai, said: "If the plane had crashed into this residential area, there would have been hundreds more victims.
The lone survivor of the plane crash, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, said: "I don't know how I came out of it alive."
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