Air India sole crash survivor says he feels like ‘luckiest man’ alive but struggles with trauma
The only survivor of June’s Air India crash in the Indian City of Ahmedabad told BBC News he feels like the “luckiest man” alive – but said the label feels cruel as he mourns his brother and struggles with the physical and mental wounds left by the tragedy.
Viswashkumar Ramesh, 39, was the only person to walk away from the wreckage of the London-bound Boeing 787 after it crashed moments after takeoff in Ahmedabad.
He told BBC News that while his escape felt like a “miracle,” the loss of his younger brother and the trauma that followed have left him unable to return to normal life.
“I lost my brother as well. My brother is my backbone,” he said. “Last few years, he was always supporting me.”
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Since returning to his home in Leicester, Ramesh has battled severe post-traumatic stress, his advisors told the outlet, and has struggled to speak with his wife and 4-year-old son.
“Now I’m alone,” he said. “I just sit in my room alone, not talking with my wife, my son. I just like to be alone in my house.”
Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time. There were 242 passengers and crew members onboard the flight.
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Video from the scene showed smoke rising from the wreckage as Ramesh stumbled away with minor visible injuries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later visited him in the hospital, where Ramesh recalled unbuckling his seatbelt and crawling out of the fuselage through an opening near his seat, 11A.
Speaking beside local community leader Sanjiv Patel and family spokesman Radd Seiger, Ramesh said reliving the crash remains too painful.
“I’m thinking all night, I’m suffering mentally,” he told BBC News. “Every day is painful for the whole family.”
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Ramesh said he continues to endure physical pain from leg, shoulder, knee, and back injuries that prevent him from working or driving.
“When I walk, not walk properly, slowly, slowly, my wife helps,” he said.
His advisors said he was diagnosed with PTSD while hospitalized in India but has not received further treatment since returning to the U.K.
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They described him as “lost and broken,” calling for senior Air India officials to meet with him and other families affected by the crash.
“They’re in crisis, mentally, physically, financially,” Patel said. “It’s devastated his family.”
Seiger said repeated requests for a meeting with the airline have been ignored or declined.
“The people who should be sitting here today are the executives of Air India,” he said. “Please come and sit down with us so that we can work through this together to try and alleviate some of this suffering.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Air India for comment on the matter.
Still, Air India, owned by Tata Group, said in a statement to BBC News that company leaders have continued to visit families of victims and that an offer to meet Ramesh’s representatives “remains open.”
The airline said care for Ramesh and others affected by the crash “remains our absolute priority.”
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