A quiet afternoon in Ahmedabad, India, turned into a scene of unimaginable tragedy when an Air India flight crashed moments after takeoff.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, carrying 242 passengers and crew, was headed to London when disaster struck.
Amid the chaos and devastation, one man walked away from the wreckage, defying all odds. How did he survive when so many others did not?
This is the story of Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of a crash that claimed over 240 lives.
A Terrifying Moment
On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight AI171 took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:39 p.m. local time.
Just 30 seconds later, a loud noise echoed through the cabin, and the plane plummeted into a medical college hostel in the Meghaninagar area.
The crash caused a massive explosion, sending flames and smoke into the sky. The plane carried 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.
Tragically, 241 passengers and crew, along with at least eight people on the ground, lost their lives. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national of Indian origin, was the only person to emerge alive from the plane.
Ramesh was seated in seat 11A, next to an emergency exit. He told reporters,
“I thought I was going to die. There were bodies all around me. I got scared, stood up, and ran.”
He described seeing the plane’s crew and passengers perish before his eyes. Despite suffering injuries to his chest, face, and feet, Ramesh managed to escape through a broken emergency exit, a move that likely saved his life.
Air India Plane Crash Survivor
Ramesh’s survival is nothing short of extraordinary. Seated near the emergency exit, he was able to unbuckle his seatbelt and crawl through a small opening in the wreckage.
“Everything happened in front of my eyes. I thought I would die,” Ramesh told NDTV .“. The side where I was seated fell into the ground floor of the building. There was some space. When the door broke, I saw that space and I just jumped out.”
“The door must’ve broken on impact,” he continued. “There was a wall on the opposite side, but near me, it was open. I ran. I don’t know how. I don’t know how I came out of it alive. For a while, I thought I was about to die. But when I opened my eyes, I saw I was alive, and I opened my seat belt and got out of there. The airhostess … died before my eyes.”
Another brother of the survivor, Nayankumar Ramesh, also talked to the media, telling everyone the call he got from Ramesh and what he said to him over the phone.
“He said, ‘Our plane’s crashed, I don’t know where my brother is. I don’t see any other passengers. I don’t know how I’m alive, how I exited the plane,” Nayankumar Ramesh told ABC News. “Just hearing about the crash, I’m scared to fly now, to even stay on a plane now.”
Videos circulating on social media show him limping away from the crash site, blood on his face and shirt, as he was helped to an ambulance.
A doctor at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital, Dr. Dhaval Gameti, reported that Ramesh was disoriented but out of danger, with a chance of being released soon.
Aviation experts are stunned by his survival. CNN analyst David Soucie noted that seat 11A, located near the wing’s spar, is a highly unlikely place to survive such a catastrophic impact.
Yet, Ramesh’s quick thinking and proximity to the exit made the difference. His family in Leicester, England, called it a “miracle,” though their joy is tempered by grief, as Ramesh’s brother, Ajay, who was also on the flight, remains missing.
A Community in Mourning
The crash left a deep scar on Ahmedabad and beyond. The plane struck a medical college hostel, killing at least five students and injuring over 50 others.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site and met Ramesh in the hospital, offering support to those affected.
The Tata Group, Air India’s parent company, pledged 10 million rupees to victims’ families and vowed to rebuild the damaged medical college.
Investigations are ongoing, with experts suggesting possible causes like engine failure or a bird strike, but answers may take months.
