Nearly four decades after surviving one of aviation's deadliest terror attacks, the sole British survivor of the 1985 Air India bombing still battles nightly terrors that transport him back to that fateful day.
On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182 exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard - making it the deadliest aviation terror attack before 9/11. Only one British passenger survived the initial explosion before perishing in the waters below.
A Miracle Survival
"I still wake up screaming," reveals the survivor, who asked to remain anonymous. "The nightmares come like clockwork - the deafening bang, the cabin tearing apart, then that terrifying plunge toward the ocean."
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the man emerge from the wreckage before disappearing beneath the waves. Against all odds, rescue teams found him clinging to debris hours later.
Lifelong Trauma
Doctors diagnosed him with severe PTSD that persists to this day. "Anniversaries are the worst," he admits. "The memories become so vivid I can smell the jet fuel and feel the cold Atlantic water."
Aviation experts consider his survival miraculous given the circumstances. The bomb, planted by Sikh extremists, detonated at 31,000 feet, causing the Boeing 747 to disintegrate mid-air.
Unhealed Wounds
Despite decades of therapy, the survivor says certain triggers - like the sound of aircraft or news of aviation disasters - instantly return him to that horrific moment. "The physical scars healed," he says, "but the mental ones never will."
His story serves as a poignant reminder of terrorism's long shadow and the invisible wounds carried by survivors of mass casualty events.
