Sole Survivor of Ahmedabad Plane Crash Details Miraculous Escape

Moments after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the only survivor of the Air India AI-171 plane crash in Ahmedabad, recounted the harrowing events. He explained that his seat, 11-A, was positioned in a part of the plane that impacted the ground floor of the building. Following the crash, he unfastened his seatbelt and exited the aircraft, sustaining burns to his left hand from the fire. He described a scene of devastation, with the bodies of passengers and crew members strewn about. “The side where I was sitting wasn’t on the hostel side, it was the ground floor of the hostel,” he said. He described the space that allowed him to escape. He added, “I don’t know how I survived. When the fire broke out, my left hand also got burned.” He emphasized the miraculous nature of his survival, having believed he would die. He remembered the sudden events before the crash, describing it as the plane feeling ‘stuck’ before crashing. The flight, originating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on June 12, 2025, involved 241 fatalities. The plane crashed into a resident doctors’ hostel shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad International Airport. The flight carried 169 Indian, 53 British, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian citizens. The pilots were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar. The aircraft departed from runway 23 at 1339 IST and issued a Mayday call prior to losing communication with Air Traffic Control.