‘It’s A Miracle, But I Lost Everything’: Sole Survivor Of Air India AI-171 Crash Speaks Of His Tragedy

Air India crash survivor Vishwas Kumar Ramesh calls his escape a curse as he battles trauma, loss, and financial hardship after the tragedy that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad.

Air India crash survivor Vishwas Kumar Ramesh says his miraculous escape feels like a curse as he struggles with trauma

Source : PTI

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When a plane crashes, survival is almost unimaginable. But for 40-year-old Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the only person to walk away alive from the Air India flight AI-171 disaster, life after survival has been a painful paradox, a miracle that feels more like a curse.

On 12 June, the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner plunged into a hostel building of BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad just moments after take-off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The fiery crash killed 241 passengers and crew and 19 people on the ground.

Only one man, Ramesh, seated in 11A near an emergency exit, survived. His younger brother Ajay, sitting just a few seats away, did not.

“I’m the only survivor. Still, I can’t believe it. It’s a miracle,” Ramesh told the BBC. “But I lost my brother. He was my backbone.”

A Miracle Or A Tragedy 

Eyewitnesses recalled a loud explosion and a ball of fire as the aircraft went down. Videos from the crash site showed Ramesh stumbling away from the burning wreckage — dazed, covered in soot, and barely conscious.

Investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) later found that the fuel supply to both engines was cut off seconds after take-off, leading to total power loss and the subsequent crash.

The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash, which killed 241 people on board in June 2025, has said he feels like the "luckiest man" alive, but is also suffering physically and mentally.

🎧 More incredible sole survivor stories https://t.co/itPMZusz2T pic.twitter.com/0lGnEV1AsJ

— BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) November 3, 2025

From his hospital bed at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where he remained under constant observation, Ramesh received a visit from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I told him I don’t know how I lived. It all happened so fast,” he said. Ramesh was discharged on 17 June, the same day his brother’s remains were handed to the family after DNA confirmation.

The Weight of Survival

Back home in Leicester, the memories of that morning refuse to fade. “Now I’m alone,” Ramesh said softly. “I just sit in my room… not talking to my wife or my son. My mother, for the last four months, just sits by the door. We can’t talk. Every day feels painful for the whole family.”

Doctors have since diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His physical injuries make walking difficult, while sleepless nights and flashbacks deepen his mental anguish. “When I walk, it’s slowly, very slowly. My wife helps,” he said. His cousin added that he often wakes up screaming in the middle of the night.

Family’s Financial Collapse

The family’s fishing business in Diu, their only source of income, has collapsed since the crash, leaving them in severe financial distress.

Ramesh’s UK-based lawyer and crisis adviser, Radd Seiger, has urged Air India CEO Campbell Wilson to personally meet the family and provide a meaningful welfare package. “This tragedy has devastated the entire family in both the UK and India. Vishwas needs urgent medical and psychological support,” Seiger said, calling the £21,500 (Rs 22 lakh) interim compensation “woefully inadequate”.

Air India’s Response

In a statement, Air India, now owned by the Tata Group, said it remains “deeply conscious” of its responsibility to all affected families. “Senior leaders from across the Tata Group continue to visit families to express condolences. An offer has been made to Mr Ramesh’s representatives for a meeting, and we hope to receive a positive response,” the airline said.

The carrier added that over 95% of affected families have already received interim compensation while awaiting the final investigation report. “Care for him, and all those affected by this tragedy, remains our absolute priority,” the airline said.

Searching for Peace After a Miracle

More than four months on, Ramesh’s survival story still defies belief. Yet for him, it’s not a tale of luck but of loss. Every day brings reminders of what, and whom, he left behind in the wreckage.

“I am broken,” he said quietly. “It’s very painful… I’m just surviving.”