'Don't know how I survived': Vishwaskumar Ramesh, lone survivor in Air India crash, says he crawled out of shattered fuselage just in time

Viswashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad, recounted the horrifying moments before the plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 241 onboard and several on the ground.
NEW DELHI: Viswashkumar Ramesh, the lone survivor of the Ahmedabad-London
Air India crash
, said in an exclusive interview to DD News on Friday that he 'doesn't know how' he made it out alive.
Recounting the harrowing moments from his hospital bed at Ahmedabad Civil, Ramesh said he felt the aircraft wasn't gaining altitude and was 'just gliding' before it slammed into a building and exploded.
'Everything happened in seconds. I realised we were going down.' he said.
Ramesh, a 40-year-old British citizen of Indian origin, was seated by the window in seat 11A.
He told DD that the side of the aircraft he was on had sustained some damage, and he noticed a gap in the fuselage near him after the crash. 'I used my leg to push through that opening, opened my seat belt and somehow crawled out,' he said.
'Everyone around me was either dead or dying.
I still don't understand how I escaped.' Video clips from the crash site showed him stumbling out, bloodied and dazed, screaming in Gujarati, 'Plane fatyo che!' (The plane exploded).
Earlier, his cousin Dhirendra Somabhai had said Ramesh told him he jumped out through a door after the impact and blacked out shortly after.
The full account, now confirmed by Ramesh himself, points to a narrow chance of survival — the crash impact tore the Dreamliner's body apart and sent flames racing through the mid-section.
The area where Ramesh was seated suffered lesser damage in the initial blast, offering him what appears to be the only exit route. His brother, Ajaykumar Ramesh, seated across the aisle in 11J, is among the 241 confirmed dead.
Ramesh and Ajaykumar were among 15 passengers from Diu district onboard Air India flight AI-171, which plummeted just seconds after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, flying to London Gatwick, crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel mess block in Meghaninagar, killing all but one onboard and several on the ground.
From his hospital bed in Ward B7, Ramesh repeated just one thing to every official and relative who tried to speak with him: 'Where is my brother?'
According to family friend Ayub Mansuri, who drove the brothers to the airport that morning, Ramesh managed to make three brief phone calls after the crash before his phone went dead.
'He kept crying and asking for Ajay. He has head injuries, burns, but somehow walked out of that wreckage.'
Around 2.30pm on Thursday, security officials sealed the hospital ward after identifying Ramesh as the lone survivor. Gujarat ATS and Ahmedabad Crime Branch officers have since restricted access to ensure his safety and assist in the investigation. Diu ADM Vivek Kumar confirmed: 'Of the 15 people from our region, only one survived.
A team has left for Ahmedabad.'
The AI-171 crash is India's deadliest aviation disaster involving a single aircraft. Experts suspect a dual engine failure or bird hit soon after takeoff. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal issued a brief 'Mayday' call to ATC before the Dreamliner lost altitude, plunged into the hostel block, and exploded in a fireball — all within 34 seconds of takeoff. The flight had 242 passengers and crew onboard. At least four doctors and a pregnant woman on the college campus also died when the aircraft crashed into their residential quarters and mess.
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