Updated: November 4, 2025 | By: [Staff Writer]
For most people, surviving a plane crash would be called a miracle. But for Viswashkumar Ramesh, the only survivor of the June 12 Air India flight disaster, it has become an endless nightmare.
He lived through a tragedy that killed 241 passengers, including his own brother. Months later, he is still struggling to walk, to talk, and to find any reason to move forward.
The Day Everything Changed
On June 12, 2025, Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operating under callsign AI171, took off from Ahmedabad, bound for London Gatwick.
Barely minutes into the flight, something went catastrophically wrong. The aircraft crashed into a medical hostel building near the airport, killing nearly everyone on board and 19 people on the ground.
Ramesh, who was seated in Seat 11A, right next to the emergency exit, somehow survived. He managed to jump out of the aircraft moments before it was engulfed in flames. His brother, Ajaykumar, seated elsewhere on the plane, was not as fortunate.
“I just stood up and there were bodies all around me,” Ramesh had told DD India from his hospital bed, hours after the crash. He had been searching for his brother even as rescuers struggled to contain the wreckage.
A Life in Fragments
Months have passed since the tragedy, but time has done little to heal Ramesh’s wounds.
In a recent Sky News interview, the 36-year-old appeared visibly fragile — his voice faltering, his thoughts interrupted by long pauses, and his eyes betraying exhaustion more than grief.
“It’s very painful talking about the plane,” he said, his words trailing off into silence when asked to describe what happened that day.
Ramesh now lives in Leicester, United Kingdom, with his wife and their four-year-old son, Divang. But his life, as he admits, has come to a standstill.
“I just sit in my bedroom, doing nothing. I don’t go out anymore,” he said. “I just think about my brother… for me, he was everything.”
The pain of losing his brother is compounded by the physical injuries he still suffers — persistent pain in his knees, shoulders, and back, as well as burns to his left arm. Even simple daily routines have become difficult.
“I need my wife’s help to take a shower,” he said softly.
A Family Struggling to Cope
The crash has not only shattered Ramesh’s emotional stability but also crippled his family’s livelihood.
Before the accident, Ramesh and his brother had pooled their life savings to start a small fishing business in India. The venture had required them to travel frequently between the UK and India.
After the crash, the business collapsed completely. With his injuries and trauma leaving him unable to work, Ramesh’s family — in both India and the UK — have been left with no steady source of income.
His wife, now his primary caregiver, is also struggling to support their young child. When asked about his son, Ramesh’s response revealed the emotional distance the tragedy has created within his family.
“He’s okay,” Ramesh said, referring to Divang. “But I’m not talking properly with him.”
When asked if his son comes to see him in his room, Ramesh only shook his head.
“We Need More Than Just Money”
To help him rebuild, Air India has provided Ramesh with an interim compensation of £21,500 (approximately ₹21.9 lakh) — a one-time payment made before the completion of a personal injury claim.
But according to Radd Seiger, Ramesh’s adviser and spokesperson, the amount is far from enough.
“The payment doesn’t even touch the sides,” Seiger told reporters. “There are so many things Ramesh needs just to start living again — physical therapy, psychiatric support, mobility assistance, and basic family help. Money alone won’t fix what’s broken.”
Community leader Sanjiv Patel, who has been helping Ramesh in Leicester, echoed the sentiment. “The trauma he’s living through is unimaginable. He needs financial, medical, and emotional support, not just symbolic compensation.”
Both Seiger and Patel have called on Air India’s CEO Campbell Wilson to personally meet Ramesh and the families of the victims.
“They need to be heard,” Seiger said. “Not as claimants or statistics, but as humans who have lost everything.”
Air India’s Response
A spokesperson for Air India — which is owned by the Tata Group — acknowledged Ramesh’s situation and said the airline remains committed to supporting him and other affected families.
“We are deeply conscious of our responsibility to provide Mr. Ramesh with support through what must have been an unimaginable period,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the media.
“Care for him — and indeed all families affected by the tragedy — remains our absolute priority.”
The spokesperson added that senior Tata Group leaders have been visiting victims’ families and that the airline has offered to arrange a direct meeting with Ramesh and his representatives. “We very much hope to receive a positive response,” the airline said.
The Weight of Survival
For Ramesh, however, the weight of survival seems heavier than the crash itself.
He carries not only the physical scars but also a deep sense of loss — the kind that isolates even from those who love you most.
Those who know him describe a man who rarely speaks, who sits alone for hours, and who finds little solace in the idea of having been “the lucky one.”
“He doesn’t see himself as lucky,” said Patel. “He sees himself as someone who lost everything — his brother, his work, his peace.”
In trauma psychology, survivors of mass tragedies often experience a phenomenon known as “survivor’s guilt” — a condition in which individuals question why they lived while others perished. For Ramesh, that guilt seems to have become his daily companion.
A Long Road Ahead
Experts say recovery from such trauma could take years, possibly decades.
Physical healing is only one part of it; rebuilding confidence, reconnecting with loved ones, and learning to find purpose again are far more difficult battles.
For now, Ramesh’s community in Leicester continues to rally around him. Local groups have begun exploring crowdfunding options, while others are petitioning for greater corporate and governmental support for crash victims and survivors.
“He has to start again from zero,” Seiger said. “But he can’t do it alone.”
Remembering the Victims
The Air India AI171 crash remains one of the deadliest aviation disasters in Indian history.
A total of 242 people were on board, of whom 241 were killed, along with 19 others on the ground.
In the months since, investigations have continued into what caused the crash, though preliminary reports have pointed to possible mechanical failure shortly after takeoff.
For families like Ramesh’s, however, no technical explanation can fill the void.
“I just want my brother back,” he said in his Sky News interview, looking away from the camera. “But I know that’s not possible.”
A Survivor, Not Yet Living
Ramesh’s story is not one of survival, but of endurance — the kind that demands living with a memory that won’t fade.
As his physical wounds slowly heal, the emotional ones remain raw and unrelenting.
For him, every morning begins with silence — and the faint echo of his brother’s voice that will never answer back.
“I’m alive,” he said quietly. “But it doesn’t feel like it.”
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