Viswash Kumar Ramesh, the only known survivor out of the 242 people on an Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, had been sitting near an emergency exit of the London-bound flight and managed to jump out, police said.
Speaking from his hospital bed, the 40-year-old told Indian media that he was a British national and was travelling to the UK with his brother after visiting family in India.
The Air India flight, which was carrying more than 240 people from the city of Ahmedabad - including 53 British nationals, collided with a medical college.
"Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly," Mr Ramesh told the Hindustan Times.
"When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital."
The man who survived the Ahmedabad plane crash also told his family he is "fine" on a phone call, his cousin has said.
"He only said that he was fine, nothing else," his cousin Ajay Valgi told BBC News.
"I feel absolutely upset, he's not just my cousin, he's my brother, he's my best friend as well," he added.
Speaking outside the family home in Leicester, Mr Ramesh's brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh said: "We were just shocked as soon as we heard it.
"I last spoke to him yesterday morning. We're devastated, just devastated.
"He said I have no idea how I exited the plane."
Social media footage shown on Indian news channels showed a man in a bloodstained white t-shirt and dark pants limping on a street and being helped by a medic.
The man had bruises on his face and a goatee beard, resembling photographs of Mr Kumar in hospital after the crash that were published by local media.
Reuters could not immediately verify the video, in which people gathered around the man and asked him where were the other passengers, to which he replied "they're all inside".
A photo of Mr Ramesh's boarding pass shown online by the Hindustan Times showed that he was seated in seat 11A of the plane bound for Gatwick Airport.
He told the paper his brother Ajay had been seated in a different row on the plane and asked for help to find him.
"He was near the emergency exit and managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door," said Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer in Ahmedabad, speaking about Viswash Kumar Ramesh.
A member of Mr Ramesh's family in the UK, who requested anonymity, told Reuters over the phone that he had survived and that the family was in touch with him, but declined to share further details.
Mr Valgi, the cousin of Viswash Kumar, said that the family had not heard anything about Mr Ramesh's brother, Ajay.
"At least the family is happy that he's okay but we're still upset about the other brother," Mr Valgi said.
"We're not doing well, we're all upset", he said, adding that the family is waiting to find out what happened to Mr Ramesh's brother.
Mr Ramesh is married with one child, a boy, he added.
The aircraft came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour, in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
Live updates: Over 290 dead in Air India plane crash, one survivor confirmed
London-bound plane crashes moments after take-off in India
More than 290 people were killed in the crash. The dead included some on the ground.
Police said Mr Ramesh was the sole passenger known so far to have survived but added that rescue operations were still ongoing.
"Chances are that there might be more survivors among the injured who are being treated in the hospital," Mr Chaudhary said.
A video of the crash circulating online showed the aircraft flying over a residential area before disappearing behind trees, followed by a huge explosion and large plumes of black smoke.
Images of the aftermath of the crash showed parts of the plane embedded into BJ Medical College as firefighters continued to tackle the smoke.
Pieces of the aircraft's landing gear, fuselage and tail could all be seen protruding from the building.
Officials said the flight was departing from Ahmedabad Airport with 242 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Air India said there were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals on the flight.
Tata Group, the parent company of Air India, said it would provide 10 million rupees (€101,000) to the families of those who were killed in the crash.
The company said it would also cover the medical costs of those injured and provide support in the "building up" of the medical college the plane crashed into.
It is the first crash involving a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
Recent analysis by the PA news agency found it was the worst airline for delays to flights from UK airports last year, with planes taking off by an average of more than 45 minutes later than scheduled.
The airline has gained a poor reputation for delays and cancellations in recent years, partly caused by a lack of funds to purchase spare aircraft parts, which led to some of its fleet being grounded.
Additional reporting by PA
