In the aftermath of one of the deadliest aviation disasters in India’s recent history, a single voice stands out as a story of improbable survival amid overwhelming tragedy. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, is the sole survivor of the Air India Flight AI171 crash that occurred on Thursday afternoon shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
The ill-fated Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, en route to London’s Gatwick Airport, was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. It lost altitude within moments of departure and crashed into a building within the BJ Medical College campus, erupting into flames that consumed nearly the entire aircraft. Thick smoke billowed into the sky as emergency teams rushed to the scene. Authorities confirmed 265 fatalities, including all passengers and crew except for one.
Vishwash, who was seated in 11A next to the emergency exit on the left side of the aircraft, believes his survival was nothing short of a miracle. “The plane broke, and my seat came off. That is how I was saved,” he told doctors at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, where he is currently receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. Medical personnel described trauma to his chest, eyes, and feet—what they termed as “impact injuries.”
Ramesh Recalls the Terrible Experience of the Cash
Speaking from his hospital bed, Ramesh recalled the horrifying moments during the crash. “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” he 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.”
A video that has gone viral on social media shows Ramesh limping away from the burning wreckage bloodied, dazed, and visibly in shock. “I can’t believe it myself how I got out of it alive,” he said later in an interview with DD News.
Originally from India, Vishwash has lived in London for the past two decades with his wife and child. He was in Gujarat for a short family visit, accompanied by his older brother Ajay Kumar Ramesh, 45. Ajay remains missing, and loved ones are desperately searching for information. Two close friends of the family have travelled from Diu to Ahmedabad in hopes of locating him. “We don’t know anything yet,” a neighbour told reporters. “It’s chaos. They’re just trying to find him.”
Eyewitnesses Shares the Aftermath of the Incident
Eyewitnesses near the crash site described the horrific aftermath, with parts of the aircraft embedded into the medical college’s buildings sections of the fuselage, landing gear, and tail visible among the debris. The pilot had issued a Mayday distress call moments after departure, indicating a full-scale emergency. The aircraft reportedly reached only 600 to 800 feet in altitude before plummeting to the ground.
According to officials, passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. Among the deceased was also former Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Vijay Rupani.
As investigators begin sifting through the wreckage in search of the black box and cockpit voice recorder to determine the exact cause of the crash, Ramesh’s miraculous escape stands as a rare sliver of hope in a landscape dominated by loss.
