Sole survivor: The 4-year-old girl who lived through the 1987 Detroit plane crash

From 1987: Young sole survivor released from hospital

Cecelia Cichan was released from the hospital after 54 days in the burn unit. She headed for Alabama to live with her new legal guardian after her family was killed in the plane crash. Originally reported by Kay Lowry on October 9, 1987.

The Air India plane crash that killed all but one person on board has raised questions about how he survived – and whether others have been the only survivors in previous crashes. 

Vishwashkumar Ramesh was traveling to London with his brother Thursday when he was ejected from the Air India Boeing 787. He was able to walk to a nearby ambulance. Doctors said he’s got multiple injuries to his body, but he seemed to be out of danger. 

Vishwashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash, speaks with doctors from a hospital bed (Indian Home Minister Amit Shah)

As miraculous as his story is, he’s not the only person to ever be the sole survivor of a plane crash. Several other people have been the lone survivors of plane crashes, including Cecelia Cichan, a 4-year-old girl who lived through a plane crash in Detroit in 1987. 

RELATED: Lone survivor: What we know about the only man to survive the Air India crash

What happened?

The backstory:

Cecelia Crocker — who was Cecelia Cichan at the time of the crash — was aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 255 when it crashed in the Detroit suburb of Romulus, killing 154 people on board, including her parents and brother. Two people also died on the ground.

The Phoenix-bound plane was clearing the runway when it tilted and the left wing clipped a light pole before shearing the top off a rental car building. The McDonnell Douglas MD80 left a half-mile trail of bodies and wreckage along Middle Belt Road.

From 1987: 4-year-old girl survives plane crash

When Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed in the Detroit suburb of Romulus, Cecelia Cichan was the only one to survive. Her family was among the 154 passengers killed. Originally reported by Kay Lowry on August 18, 1987.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the plane’s crew failed to set the wing flaps properly for takeoff. The agency also said a cockpit warning system did not alert the crew to the problem.

How did she survive?

Dig deeper:

Firefighter John Thiede, one of the first responders to arrive on scene, said 4-year-old Cecelia was still strapped in her plane seat when she was found. 

RELATED: Lone survivor of Air India crash reportedly recalls "loud noise" after takeoff

"There was a seat upside down, and we moved the chair and checked underneath the chair. When we looked, a hand was coming out from the chair that she was in," Thiede told CBS News. 

Crocker’s family lived in Tempe, Ariz., but after the crash, she was raised in Alabama by her aunt and uncle who shielded her from the media.

Cecelia Cichan upon her release from the hospital. (FOX 2 archives)

What they’re saying: In a 2013 documentary, Cecelia said she thought about the crash every day and that she had scars on her arms, legs and forehead. She had also gotten an airplane tattoo on her wrist.

"I got this tattoo as a reminder of where I’ve come from. I see it as — so many scars were put on my body against my will — and I decided to put this on my body for myself," she said in the film.

Other ‘sole survivors’

At least three other people have been "sole survivors" of plane crashes.

George Lamson Jr., then a 17-year-old from Plymouth, Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985.

Lamson in a social media post Thursday said the news of a plane crash in India with only one survivor shook him.

"There are no right words for moments like this, but I wanted to acknowledge it," he said. "These events don’t just make headlines. They leave a lasting echo in the lives of those who’ve lived through something similar."