New Delhi: “I still don’t know how I made it out alive,” said Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the lone survivor of the Air India flight (AI171) that crashed shortly after takeoff Thursday. The London-bound flight had 242 people on board, including crew members.
In an interview to NDTV, Ramesh said, “After the crash, when I opened my eyes, for a moment I thought I was going to die. But then it hit me—I was alive. I unbuckled my seatbelt and got up.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ramesh on Friday at Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, where he is being treated for injuries, including a burn on his left arm.
“He (the PM) asked me how it happened, and I told him. Then he asked me how I was doing now and how my treatment was going,” he said about his conversation with Modi, who also visited the site of the crash Friday and assessed the ground situation.
#WATCH | PM Modi visits Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad and meets the lone survivor of the Air India plane crash and other people injured in the accident pic.twitter.com/0OYwh90dNh
— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2025
On being asked about what happened after take-off, Ramesh, who was seated in 11A, said, “Right after take-off, for 5 to 10 seconds, it felt like the plane was suspended mid-air. The lights came on inside, and it seemed like we had hit a building because of the speed at which we took off.”
“However, the side I was sitting on didn’t crash into the hostel—it landed in a small open area. When the door broke, I saw a little space and realised I could try to escape. And somehow, I managed to. On the other side of the plane, there was no room to get out,” he added.
Ramesh also expressed appreciation for the hospital staff.
“My left arm got burned in the fire. I was taken to the hospital by ambulance. The hospital staff has been extremely supportive, and my treatment is going well,” he said.
The Air India flight had 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 1 Canadian national, and 7 Portuguese nationals on board. The aircraft crashed into a hostel building housing students of the B.J. Medical College and the Civil Hospital.
In a post on X, Air India confirmed that of the 242 aboard, there were 241 confirmed fatalities.
A formal investigation has been initiated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), in line with international protocols set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said.