Sole Survivor of Air India Plane Crash Doesn’t Know How He’s Alive: ‘I Saw People Dying in Front of My Eyes’

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.

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.

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.

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.