What should have been a routine return home turned into a moment that split one man’s life in two, before and after the crash.
Viswash Ramesh, 40, is the only known survivor of the devastating Air India Flight AI-171 crash, which occurred just minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. He was traveling with his younger brother, Ajaykumar Ramesh, 35, returning to the UK after a business trip. Both were seated in Row 11, Ajay in 11J, Viswash across the aisle in 11A, near the emergency exit.
Only one of them would make it out alive.
“Find Ajay. You must find Ajay.”
Viswash, bloodied and disoriented, was pulled from the burning wreckage by rescue workers. His first words, repeated over and over in an Indian hospital, were a desperate plea:
“Find Ajay. You must find Ajay.”
But Ajay never surfaced. His seat had been just feet away. Flames overtook the cabin, and he never called home.
Back in Leicester, their family was thrust into an unbearable emotional limbo. “It’s a miracle at least one of them survived,” said their youngest brother Nayankumar, who described the moment they received Viswash’s call. “He said his plane had crashed and he couldn’t find anyone. There was blood running down his face.”
For hours, the family clung to hope. Maybe Ajay had been rushed to another hospital. Maybe his name had been missed in the confusion. His phone still rang. No one picked up.
That hope ended late Thursday night, when Air India confirmed the worst: of the 242 people on board, only Viswash survived.
A Miracle Wrapped in Grief
Hospital photos show Viswash battered, but alive. A man caught between survival and sorrow. His mother, Manibai Ramesh, was too overcome to speak. Her sobs, Nayankumar said, were answer enough.
“They were sitting next to each other,” said cousin Ajay Valgi. “But we don’t know what happened to Ajay.”
The brothers had been in India on business tied to their family’s ventures. Viswash had previously served as a director of RMV Fashion, a Leicester-based textile firm that closed in 2022.
What was supposed to be a standard return flight, Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner to London Gatwick, became a global tragedy. And in its wreckage, one man was left standing, physically present but emotionally shattered.
The Crash That Shook Two Nations
According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal issued a Mayday distress call moments before the aircraft vanished from radar. At 1:39 p.m. IST, the plane crashed into the Meghani Nagar neighborhood just outside the airport perimeter, igniting a fireball and thick black smoke that overwhelmed the area.
The crash destroyed parts of a medical college hostel, killing at least five students on the ground and injuring dozens more. Firefighters struggled to control flames fed by fully loaded fuel tanks. The plane’s tail cone was later found embedded in a nearby building.
World leaders including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sorrow over the incident. Emergency crews, Indian Army personnel, and medical teams continue to sift through debris and treat survivors on the ground.
One Life Left to Rebuild
For now, Viswash Ramesh lies in a hospital bed, alive but haunted. The plane crash has taken 241 lives, including that of his younger brother, travel companion, and closest friend.
His survival, a miracle in every sense, comes at the cost of immeasurable loss. And for a grieving family in Leicester, that miracle feels like both a blessing and a burden.
“We’re not doing well,” said cousin Ajay Valgi.
“We’re all upset. But we are grateful for one thing: that we didn’t lose both of them.”
