Viswashkumar Ramesh, 40, the sole survivor of Air India Flight 171, is among the ranks of those spared by fate.

Boeing's 787 had never been involved in a fatal crash before Thursday. But it has come under scrutiny for quality concerns. It could take months to fully understand what went wrong.

There have been cases of a very small number of survivors in very serious accidents, but it is "very rare" for there to be only one, a professor told Newsweek.