“For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too … I still can’t believe how I survived,” Vishwash Kumar Ramesh said

A British passenger who was the sole survivor of the Air India tragedy on Thursday, June 12 has said he doesn’t know “how” he “survived” the crash
At least 290 people, including 241 passengers and crew on board Flight AI171, died after the London-bound plane crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad in India
“I can’t believe how I came out of it alive. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too,” 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who has been named as the sole survivor by local outlets, said

A British man who is the only survivor from the Air India plane crash said he doesn’t know how he made it out of the tragedy alive.

The airline confirmed in a statement on X that there was a “sole survivor” out of the 230 passengers and 12 crew on board Flight AI171, which crashed on the afternoon of Thursday, June 12, just after takeoff from Ahmedabad in India. The jet had been bound for London’s Gatwick airport.

This handout photo issued by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs shows Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah meeting British plane crash survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, at a hospital in Ahmedabad, after Air India confirmed Mr Ramesh was the sole survivor of the 242 people on board the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner when it crashed into a medical college shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh meets Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah.Ministry of Home Affairs India via AP

The airline did not identify the living passenger beyond saying they are a British citizen “of Indian origin” who is being “treated in a hospital.”

However, multiple local reports have since identified the man as 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.

An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, with 232 passengers and 10 crew members and pilots on board, crashes shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport. This incident is one of the worst aviation tragedies in India, and the aircraft is en route to London. The plane goes down in the Meghani area, creating a dark plume of smoke that is visible for kilometers. Other victims include doctors and medical students from a medical college in Ahmedabad, India, where the crash occurs on Thursday afternoon, June 12, 2025.

Authorities are pictured at the scene after the Air India plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025.Saurabh Sirohiya/NurPhoto via Getty

Speaking with DD News from his hospital bed in Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, Ramesh said, “I don’t know how I survived. I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me… I walked out of the rubble,” per the Hindustan Times.

“Even I can’t believe how I came out of it alive. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too. But when I opened my eyes and looked around, I realized I was alive. I still can’t believe how I survived,” he continued.

Ramesh recalled the moments before the crash: “When the flight took off, within 5 to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air. Suddenly, the lights started flickering – green and white – then the plane rammed into some establishment that was there,” according to the outlet.

The police commissioner in Ahmedabad, G.S. Malik, told Asian News International (ANI) that the living passenger was found in seat 11A and had been transported to a local hospital.

Citing health officials, CNN reported that at least 290 people have now been pronounced dead. The outlet noted that the plane crashed into a hostel for doctors.

Ramesh explained that the section of the plane he was in did not impact the building and speculated that might be why others were unable to escape like he did.

“When I saw the exit, I thought I could come out. I tried, and I did. Maybe the people who were on the other side of the plane weren’t able to,” Ramesh said.

According to the Hindustan Times, Ramesh came out of the tragedy with “impact injuries.” He told DD News that he also had burns on his left hand from a fire.

He was visiting family in India with his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, and was returning to the U.K. when the crash occurred. Per U.K. newspaper The Times, Ajay is thought to have perished in the crash.

GUJARAT, INDIA - JUNE 13: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY - MANDATORY CREDIT - INDIAN PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU (PIB) / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the crash site after UK-bound Air India passenger plane with 242 people on board crashed in western India, on June 13, 2025. At least 265 people were killed while only one passenger survived when an Air India flight to London crashed moments after take-off from the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi visits the Air India crash site.Press Information Bureau (PIB) / Handout/Anadolu via Getty

Vishwash’s younger brother, Nayan, 27, also spoke to the media.

“When the crash happened my brother video called us and all he could say was ‘I have no idea how I survived or exited the plane,'” he said, per The Times. “He kept saying, ‘I can’t see my brother or anybody else.’ All he was worried about on the phone was telling us, ‘Find Ajay, you must find Ajay.’ “

“At 9 a.m. [U.K. time], my dad called Vishwash. He was sat on the runway. He told us his flight was delayed. Five minutes later he video-calls Dad. The family is devastated, shattered, heartbroken,” Nayan added.

After the crash, the airline shared a post on X confirming “the passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national.”

Video footage that emerged online showed the plane descending quickly to the ground right after it took off. It was then seemingly consumed by a large fireball. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson expressed “deep sorrow about this event” on behalf of the airline in a video statement shared on X.

“We are actively working with the authorities on all of the emergency response efforts,” he added. “A special team of caregivers from Air India is on the way to Ahmedabad to provide additional support.”