AHMEDABAD, INDIA —The sole British survivor of the tragic Air India Flight 171 crash has recalled the harrowing moments of survival after watching cabin crew members die before his eyes.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, miraculously escaped the wreckage by climbing out through a broken emergency door moments after the aircraft plummeted into a doctors’ hostel shortly after takeoff. The crash claimed the lives of more than 240 people, marking it as the deadliest aviation disaster in the past decade.
Ramesh, a businessman from the UK who had been returning from a work trip to India, spoke from his hospital bed to Indian state broadcaster DD News.
“I still don’t believe I survived,” he said. “For a while, I thought I was going to die too. But when I opened my eyes and realised I was alive, I tried to unbuckle myself and find a way out. I saw people dying right in front of me – the air hostesses, two passengers nearby – it was horrific. I walked out of the rubble.”
Ramesh had been seated in 11A, located near the emergency exit above the aircraft’s wings – typically considered one of the structurally strongest and most survivable sections of a plane.
He described how the aircraft seemed to stall in mid-air within seconds of takeoff. “It felt like the plane was stuck in the air,” he said. “The cabin lights turned green and white and began flickering. We weren’t gaining altitude – just gliding. Then, suddenly, we crashed into the building with speed and everything exploded.”
In a stroke of fate, the side of the aircraft where Ramesh was seated had landed away from the structure, allowing a small opening for escape. “The other side was blocked by the hostel’s wall. No one could have gotten out from there,” he said. “My door had broken open, and I saw space outside. I used my leg to push through the gap and crawled out.”
Doctors confirmed that Ramesh suffered only minor injuries, mainly burns to his left arm. Remarkably, he was able to walk away from the crash site under his own strength.
The crash involved a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, marking the first major fatal accident involving this aircraft model and one of the deadliest air disasters involving British nationals in recent memory.
Among those feared dead were British couple Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, known for running a spiritual wellness centre. Jamie Greenlaw-Meek had made an appearance earlier this year on ITV’s This Morning, where former editor Martin Frizell praised his “vibrancy” and “enthusiasm.”
In the wake of the crash, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ramesh in hospital, highlighting the symbolic gravity of the tragedy.
As investigators begin to piece together what went wrong in the moments leading up to the crash, Ramesh’s testimony may prove critical in understanding how a routine flight turned into a national tragedy – and how one man defied the odds to survive.
