Video: Air India plane crash's lone survivor breaks down at brother's funeral
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the only known survivor of the horrific Air India plane crash on June 12, was travelling from Ahmedabad with his brother Ajay Kumar Ramesh. While Vishwash, who was seated near an emergency exit of the London-bound flight, managed to jump out, his brother was among the 241 passengers that did not survive.
Ajay's funeral was held today in Diu, an Indian union territory. Heart-rending videos on social media show Ramesh at the funeral, carrying his brother's remains on his shoulders to the cremation ground. Vishwash is a British national — a native of Diu who is settled in the UK. The brothers had flown down to India to visit their family in Diu.
Vishwash, who had sustained burn wounds from the crash, was discharged from the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital late on Tuesday night, and is still recovering from injuries, as seen in the funeral videos.
#WATCH | Diu | Lone survivor of AI-171 flight crash, Vishwas Ramesh Kumar, mourns the death of his brother Ajay Ramesh, who was travelling on the same flight
Vishwas Ramesh Kumar is a native of Diu and is settled in the UK. pic.twitter.com/fSAsCNwGz5
— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2025
'Can't believe how I survived'
Speaking from his hospital bed, the 40-year-old had told Indian media that he was travelling to Britain with his brother after visiting family in India.
"When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital," Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
"Everything happened in front of me, and even I couldn't believe how I managed to come out alive from that," Ramesh said from his hospital bed on Friday, speaking in Hindi to national broadcaster DD News.
"Within a minute after takeoff, suddenly... it felt like something got stuck... I realised something had happened, and then suddenly the plane's green and white lights turned on," Ramesh said.
"After that, the plane seemed to speed up, heading straight towards what turned out to be a hostel of a hospital. Everything was visible in front of my eyes when the crash happened."
Ramesh, aged 40, is from the British city of Leicester, according to Britain's Press Association news agency, which spoke with his family at home.
"Initially, I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive," he said.
"I saw the air hostess and aunties and uncles all in front of me," he said, his voice trailing off in emotion, using a term of respect used in India for older people.
"I unfastened my seatbelt and tried to escape, and I did," he said.
"I think the side I was on was not facing the hostel," he added. "Where I landed was closer to the ground and there was space too – and when my door broke -- I saw that there was space, and I thought I could try to slip out."
"My left hand got slightly burnt due to the fire, but an ambulance brought me to the hospital," he said. "The people here are taking good care of me."
Seat 11A of the aircraft
Social media footage shown on Indian news channels showed Ramesh in a bloodstained white t-shirt and dark pants limping on a street and being helped by a medic.
A photo of his boarding pass shown online by the Hindustan Times showed that he was seated in seat 11A of the plane bound for Gatwick Airport.
His brother Ajay had been seated in a different row on the plane and asked for help to find him.
"He was near the emergency exit and managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door," said Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer in Ahmedabad.
On June 12, the Air India aircraft came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour, in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. More than 290 people were killed in the crash. The dead included some on the ground.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
15 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
More than 200 India plane crash victims identified
More than 200 victims of the Air India jet crash have been identified through DNA testing, Indian authorities said Wednesday, inching towards ending an agonising wait for relatives. There was one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the London-bound plane on Thursday when it slammed into a residential area of Ahmedabad, killing at least 38 people on the ground. Distraught relatives have been providing DNA samples to help identify their loved ones, in a painstakingly slow process. "As of 2 pm, 202 DNA (samples) have been matched," Harsh Sanghavi, home minister of Ahmedabad's Gujarat state, wrote on X. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner erupted into a fireball when it crashed moments after takeoff, with witnesses reporting seeing badly burnt bodies and scattered remains. Indian authorities are yet to announce the cause of the crash and investigators from Britain and the United States have joined the probe. Investigators are aiming to retrieve vital information from both black boxes recovered from the site -- the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau upgraded a laboratory this year where black boxes can be analysed. Following the crash, the civil aviation regulator ordered inspections of Air India's Dreamliners. Initial checks on the fleet "did not reveal any major safety concerns", the regulator said late Tuesday. "The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards," it said.
Khaleej Times
16 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Video: Air India plane crash's lone survivor breaks down at brother's funeral
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the only known survivor of the horrific Air India plane crash on June 12, was travelling from Ahmedabad with his brother Ajay Kumar Ramesh. While Vishwash, who was seated near an emergency exit of the London-bound flight, managed to jump out, his brother was among the 241 passengers that did not survive. Ajay's funeral was held today in Diu, an Indian union territory. Heart-rending videos on social media show Ramesh at the funeral, carrying his brother's remains on his shoulders to the cremation ground. Vishwash is a British national — a native of Diu who is settled in the UK. The brothers had flown down to India to visit their family in Diu. Vishwash, who had sustained burn wounds from the crash, was discharged from the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital late on Tuesday night, and is still recovering from injuries, as seen in the funeral videos. #WATCH | Diu | Lone survivor of AI-171 flight crash, Vishwas Ramesh Kumar, mourns the death of his brother Ajay Ramesh, who was travelling on the same flight Vishwas Ramesh Kumar is a native of Diu and is settled in the UK. — ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2025 'Can't believe how I survived' Speaking from his hospital bed, the 40-year-old had told Indian media that he was travelling to Britain with his brother after visiting family in India. "When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital," Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. "Everything happened in front of me, and even I couldn't believe how I managed to come out alive from that," Ramesh said from his hospital bed on Friday, speaking in Hindi to national broadcaster DD News. "Within a minute after takeoff, suddenly... it felt like something got stuck... I realised something had happened, and then suddenly the plane's green and white lights turned on," Ramesh said. "After that, the plane seemed to speed up, heading straight towards what turned out to be a hostel of a hospital. Everything was visible in front of my eyes when the crash happened." Ramesh, aged 40, is from the British city of Leicester, according to Britain's Press Association news agency, which spoke with his family at home. "Initially, I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive," he said. "I saw the air hostess and aunties and uncles all in front of me," he said, his voice trailing off in emotion, using a term of respect used in India for older people. "I unfastened my seatbelt and tried to escape, and I did," he said. "I think the side I was on was not facing the hostel," he added. "Where I landed was closer to the ground and there was space too – and when my door broke -- I saw that there was space, and I thought I could try to slip out." "My left hand got slightly burnt due to the fire, but an ambulance brought me to the hospital," he said. "The people here are taking good care of me." Seat 11A of the aircraft Social media footage shown on Indian news channels showed Ramesh in a bloodstained white t-shirt and dark pants limping on a street and being helped by a medic. A photo of his boarding pass shown online by the Hindustan Times showed that he was seated in seat 11A of the plane bound for Gatwick Airport. His brother Ajay had been seated in a different row on the plane and asked for help to find him. "He was near the emergency exit and managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door," said Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer in Ahmedabad. On June 12, the Air India aircraft came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour, in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. More than 290 people were killed in the crash. The dead included some on the ground.
Zawya
2 days ago
- Zawya
India regulator asks Air India for training data of pilots, dispatcher of crashed plane
NEW DELHI: India's aviation safety watchdog has asked Air India for the training records of the pilots and dispatcher for the plane that crashed last week as part of its investigation into the incident that killed at least 271 people, government memos showed. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation also asked all flying schools to conduct training compliance checks, according to the confidential memos, seen by Reuters. The DGCA said the requests were part of a "regulatory" review of the accident, and also sought details of action taken following the watchdog's audits of Air India in the last few months. It asked for the details to be provided by Monday. It was not clear whether Air India had complied with the directive. The airline and the DGCA did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London with 242 people on board began losing height seconds after take-off in Ahmedabad on Thursday before crashing into nearby buildings. Everyone on board was killed, bar a single passenger, along with about 30 on the ground. Sumeet Sabharwal, who the Indian government has said had 8,200 flying hours of experience and was also an Air India instructor, was the commanding pilot of flight AI171. His co-pilot was Clive Kunder who had 1,100 hours of experience. Sabharwal's funeral took place in Mumbai on Tuesday. The watchdog requested for training details and supporting documents for the pilots, as well as for the flight dispatcher. The memo did not elaborate on the type of documents required, but accident investigations commonly look at a crew's training and qualifications, flight history, medical records and any actions previously taken against them. The memo did not raise any concerns with Air India's operations and some of the requests are standard in the aftermath of a major incident. Dispatchers are DGCA-certified ground-based airline employees whose role includes flight planning, assessing weather and airspace conditions, and coordination with the pilots. While the request for pilot training data was sent by the DGCA, the accident investigation is being led by another wing of the aviation ministry, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. Air India's Chairman N. Chandrasekaran told staff on Monday the incident should be a catalyst to build a safer airline. The DGCA, through a separate memo dated June 16, also asked flying schools across the country to "strictly follow additional safety and operational measures." The regulator said instructors must check for compliance with procedures concerning training, maintenance and licensing, and coordinate flight plans with nearby airports in advance to ensure any emergencies are dealt with swiftly. "Compliance will be assessed during audits/surveillance," said the memo by the Directorate of Flying Training, reviewed by Reuters. Stephanie Pope, the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, visited Air India's headquarters near New Delhi and met the airline's chairman to discuss the crash, Reuters reported on Monday. The crash poses a new challenge for Air India, which the Tata Group bought in 2022 and has been trying to revamp, and Boeing, which is trying to rebuild public trust following a series of safety and production crises. In a June 13 memo headed "updating airport emergency plan", seen by Reuters, government-managed airports have also been asked to conduct a full-scale training exercise - typically an emergency drill - on June 30. (Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Abhijith Ganapavaram; Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington and Aditi Shah; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
