Months have passed since the air tragedy that shook India and the world: Air India flight which crashed shortly after takeoff and left more than 240 dead. Only one person survived. His name is Vishwash Kumar Ramesh and, although he miraculously came out alive, his life changed.
In a brief conversation with the BBC, the man recounted what his day-to-day life has been like since the tragic June 12, 2025. «I don’t like to talk to anyone, I just sit alone in my room, without talking, just like my wife, my son, I don’t talk to anyone. I just like to be alone in my house».
Ramesh still relives, over and over again, the impact scene. The plane, which had risen for just a few seconds, broke up and fell against a building. He was trapped between irons and explosions before he could get out.
“Everything happened before my eyes. I don’t know how I survived. For a moment I thought I was going to die too. But when I opened my eyes, I realized that he was alive and I tried to unbuckle my seatbelt and escape wherever I could. “It was before my eyes that the stewardess and other people died,” he clarified.
What happens to him is not uncommon in victims of air disasters. Mental health specialists point out that the majority of those who survive events where everyone else dies develop post-traumatic stress symptoms associated with silence and withdrawal, as if talking were a way of reliving it.
Ramesh lost his brother on the same flight. The family says that as soon as he leaves his room, he does not answer the phone and avoids any questions about what happened. He only agreed to speak on two occasions and always briefly.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the tragic Air India flight Al-171, in a previous interview. (Photo: YouTube video capture @elmundo)While the official investigation continues to determine whether there was technical failure or human error, the sole survivor continues to fight for his life.
The tragedy of Flight AI171 of Air India occurred on June 12, 2025. The plane, a Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner operated by Indian airline, took off from the airport Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport in Ahmedabad (India) heading to London.
Just a few seconds after takeoff, the device began to lose altitude and crashed into the BJ Medical College residence complex in a suburb of the city.
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New video of the only survivor of the plane tragedy in India
Of the total number of people on board —242, between passengers and crew—, 241 died. In addition, at least 19 more people died on the ground when the plane hit the residential area. Only one person survived the accident.
The authorities immediately launched a massive rescue operation and two days later they had recovered the vast majority of the black boxes to begin the technical investigation.
The preliminary report indicates that the accident may have been caused by the sudden disconnection of the fuel supply to both engines, when the fuel control switches went from the “RUN” to “CUTOFF” position during the climb phase.
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The interview of Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the only survivor of the Air India plane tragedy
Although the pilots tried to restart the engines, it was too late. The investigation is ongoing to determine the exact causes and whether human or maintenance factors were involved.
