Latest news with #AjayRamesh
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Air India survivor details harrowing escape from the wreckage
The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash tragedy has revealed how he was able to free himself from the wreckage. Brit Vishwash Kumar Ramesh (pictured), who was sitting in seat 11A, said it was a 'miracle' he survived last Thursday's disaster that killed 279 people. However, he feels 'terrible' he could not save his brother Ajay and now feels racked with guilt over his death. The 40-year-old from Leicester told The Sun : 'It's a miracle I survived. I am OK physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.' Vishwash had tried to book two seats next to each other on flight AI171, which crashed into a densely populated part of the city of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff. Vishwash, who was sitting next to one of the plane's emergency exits, was able to crawl through a hole in the twisted fuselage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. His brother Ajay, who was sitting in seat 11J, tragically died alongside a further 240 passengers and crew. Footage exclusively obtained by MailOnline showed Vishwash tried going back to the site of the inferno to save his brother. Vishwash, who had plasters on his face, today carried his brother's coffin at a ceremony in Gujarat. He was later seen crying in anguish and had to be taken away. Last week's crash was one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed. The aircraft struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad last week, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, 52 of whom were British. Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash.
ABC News
3 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Lone survivor of Air India crash farewells brother as investigations continue into crash
Just days after being discharged from hospital, the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash has farewelled his brother, who died in the disaster. With bandages still on his face, Viswashkumar Ramesh helped carry his brother Ajay's coffin through the town of Diu on India's west coast on Wednesday, local time. He was clearly distressed and consoled by family members. Mourners packed the streets to farewell the English businessman's brother, who was sitting just a few rows from him six days ago when flight AI171 bound for London crashed in the suburbs of Ahmedabad. All of the other 241 other passengers died, along with at least 30 people on the ground and five medical students. Mr Ramesh remarkably survived the horror, managing to walk to find medical help. Other funeral services for victims took place across the country, but some families were still waiting for the relatives to be returned to them. Distraught relatives have been providing DNA samples to help identify their loved ones, in a painstakingly slow process. As of Wednesday, the medical superintendent of the Civil Hospital, Rakesh Joshi, told journalists that 208 victims had been identified. The funerals took place as Air India's chairman confirmed that the crashed Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had no record of engine problems. In an interview with Indian broadcaster Times Now, Natarajan Chandrasekaran said Air India flight 171's right engine was new and installed in March 2025, and that the left engine was last serviced in 2023. Experts from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are probing the crash with assistance from the UK, the US and officials from Boeing. A definitive cause could take several months or even years to determine. Following the crash, India's aviation safety regulator has ordered deeper checks on the Boeing 787 aircraft operated by Air India. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that Air India had cancelled 83 wide-body flights, including 66 Dreamliners since the new checks were imposed. However, it said no "major safety concerns" had been found. Air India said it would cut international wide-body aircraft flights by 15 per cent for the next few weeks. It cited additional safety checks and operational disruption as reasons for the move. The airline said in a statement that inspections had been completed on 26 of its 33 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft, and those 26 have been cleared for service. The cuts, effective until at least mid-July, were being implemented "to ensure stability of operations, better efficiency and minimise inconvenience to passengers," the Tata Group-owned airline said. The remaining planes will be checked in the coming days, and additional checks are also planned for its Boeing 777 fleet, Air India added. ABC/wires
Times
3 days ago
- General
- Times
Air India crash survivor consumed by guilt over brother's death
The sole survivor of the Air India crash has spoken of how he is struggling to come to terms with his feelings of guilt after he missed the opportunity to move his brother into the plane seat next to him. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old businessman from Leicester, was returning to London on flight AI171 last week when it crashed into a medical college building shortly after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport in the western state of Gujarat. His brother, Ajay, was one of the 241 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane who died in the disaster. Fifty-two British citizens were among those killed. Ramesh miraculously survived with relatively minor injuries after jumping out of an emergency exit next to his seat 11A. Speaking for the first time since the crash, Ramesh told The Sun: 'I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together. But I lost my brother in front of my eyes. So now I am constantly thinking 'Why can't I save my brother?'' Ramesh added: 'It's a miracle I survived. I am okay physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.' Overcome with emotion after the crash, he told friends: 'I wish I was not alive.' On Tuesday, Ramesh broke down in tears as he helped tocarry his brother's coffin only hours after he had been discharged from hospital. Recalling the final frantic moments on board the plane, Ramesh said: 'Everything happened in seconds. I realised we were going down.' The aircraft, Ramesh added, 'wasn't gaining altitude and was just gliding. After that, the plane seemed to speed up, before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded. Everything was visible in front of my eyes when the crash happened. 'I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive.' Ramesh told the Hindustan Times that when the plane crashed, the section he was sitting in landed on the ground rather than hitting the roof of a building. Locals spotted Ramesh as he staggered out of the grounds of a medical college and they led him to an ambulance before he attempted to go back into the inferno searching for his brother. While in the hospital, Narendra Modi, the prime minister, visited Ramesh. The process of identifying victims through DNA and dental records is ongoing, with 202 victims identified to date. Air India said in a statement that it was working to repatriate the deceased to the UK and other parts of the world. Air accident investigators from the United States and the UK have been sent to take part in the crash investigation. The black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, have been recovered. An inspection of Air India's 787 fleet did not reveal any major issues and India's aviation safety watchdog has asked the airline for the training records of the pilots and the dispatchers.
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
It is a miracle, says lone survivor of Air India plane crash
The British survivor of the Air India plane crash has said it is a 'miracle' he survived but added he feels 'terrible' he could not save his brother. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh told The Sun: 'It's a miracle I survived. I am OK physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.' The Air India aircraft struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad last week, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, 52 of whom were British. The sole surviving passenger was Mr Ramesh. The 40-year-old told The Sun he tried to get seats together with his brother but was not able to. He said: 'If we had been sat together we both might have survived. 'I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together. 'But I lost my brother in front of my eyes. So now I am constantly thinking 'Why can't I save my brother?' Mr Ramesh was in seat 11A, next to one of the aircraft's emergency exits. Last week's crash was one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed. Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash. On Tuesday, an Air India flight on the same route as the plane that crashed last week was cancelled because of 'precautionary checks', the airline said. Air India's website shows the Flight AI159 was initially delayed by one hour and 50 minutes but was later cancelled. A flight from Gatwick to Amritsar, India, was also axed. The cancelled flights were scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which is the same type of aircraft that crashed shortly after take-off at Ahmedabad on June 12.
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Brit survivor of Air India crash says he feels ‘terrible' he couldn't save his brother
An Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad last week resulted in the deaths of 241 out of 242 people on board, including 52 British nationals. The sole survivor, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, described his survival as a "miracle" but expressed profound regret for not being able to save his brother, Ajay. Mr. Ramesh, who was seated in 11A near an emergency exit, recounted his unsuccessful attempt to secure seats next to his brother on the flight. Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash, which is noted as one of the deadliest in terms of British fatalities. Following the incident, an Air India flight on the same route was cancelled due to "precautionary checks," along with another flight from Gatwick to Amritsar, both scheduled to be operated by the same Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner model as the crashed aircraft.
