The sole survivor of the Air India crash in the Indian city of Ahmedabad in June told BBC News he feels like the “luckiest man” in the world – but said the label feels cruel as he mourns his brother and struggles with the physical and mental wounds left by the tragedy.
Viswashkumar Ramesh, 39, was the only person to walk away from the wreckage of the London-bound Boeing 787 after it crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad.
He told BBC News that while his escape felt like a “miracle”, the loss of his younger brother and the trauma that followed have not allowed him to return to normal life.
“I also lost my brother. My brother is my backbone,” he said. “He has always supported me in recent years.”
INDIAN NATIONAL STABED 2 TEENAGERS WITH FORK DURING FLIGHT
In this handout photo released by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Home Minister Amit Shah meets British plane crash survivor Viswashkumar Ramesh, 40, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Ministry of Home Affairs India via AP)
Since returning to his home in Leicester, Ramesh has suffered severe post-traumatic stress, his advisers told the newspaper, and struggled to talk to his wife and 4-year-old son.
“Now I’m alone,” he said. “I just sit alone in my room and don’t talk to my wife and my son. I just like to be alone in my house.”
Air India Flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route to London’s Gatwick Airport, crashed in a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after take-off at 1:38 pm local time. There were 242 passengers and crew on board the flight.
‘LARGER THAN LIFE’ SHIP WRECK DISCOVERER DIES DURING DEEP SEA DIVING EXPEDITION
Firefighters are busy extinguishing a fire at the site of the crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. (Reuters/Amit Dave/TPX Images of the day)
Video footage from the scene showed smoke billowing from the wreckage as Ramesh staggered away with minor visible injuries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later visited him in hospital, where Ramesh recalled unbuckling his seat belt and crawling out of the torso through an opening near his seat, 11A.
Ramesh, speaking alongside local community leader Sanjiv Patel and family spokesman Radd Seiger, said reliving the crash remains too painful.
“I think all night, I suffer mentally,” he told BBC News. “Every day is painful for the whole family.”
NAVY ACCUSED OF LEAVING BRAIN INJURY AMONG PILOTS IN NEW HOME PROBE
The tail of a crashed Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane is stuck on a building in Ahmedabad, India. (Reuters/Amit Dave/TPX Images of the day)
Ramesh said he continues to experience physical pain from leg, shoulder, knee and back injuries that prevent him from working or driving.
“When I walk, not well, slowly, slowly, my wife helps,” he said.
His advisers said he was diagnosed with PTSD in hospital in India but has not received further treatment since returning to Britain
FOX NEWS’ ERIC SHAWN REVEALS CANCER AND RESPIRATORY DISEASE FROM 9/11 TOXIC DUST
Aircraft landing gear at the crash site of Air India Ltd. Flight AI171 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, on June 12, 2025. (Siddharaj Solanki/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
They described him as “lost and broken” and called on senior Air India officials to meet him and other families affected by the crash.
“They are in crisis, mentally, physically and financially,” Patel said. “It has devastated his family.”
Seiger said repeated requests for a meeting with the airline have been ignored or denied.
“The people who should be sitting here today are the executives of Air India,” he said. “Please join us so we can work through this together and try to alleviate some of this suffering.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Still, Tata Group-owned Air India said in a statement to BBC News that company executives have continued to visit victims’ families and that an offer to meet Ramesh’s representatives “remains open.”
The airline said caring for Ramesh and others affected by the crash “remains our absolute priority.”
