A British man was the sole survivor after an Air India flight tragically crashed into a residential area.
As the only confirmed survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, is now recovering in the hospital and grappling with the question everyone is asking: how did he make it out alive?
Vishwash was seated in 11A aboard the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner when it crashed just moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India.
The flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew, including 169 Indian nationals and 53 Britons.
His brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, told BBC News: “He [Vishwashkumar] himself has no idea how he survived, how he got out the plane.
“When he called us he was just more worried about my other brother, like 'Find Ajay, find Ajay.' That's all he cares about at the moment.”
Tragically, Vishwash’s older brother, 45-year-old Ajay Kumar Ramesh, was also on board — and did not survive.
“We were all in shock as soon as we heard what happened, just utter shock. Speechless,” Nayan added.
“It’s a miracle Vishwash is alive,” he told Sky News. “But we’ve lost Ajay. It’s devastating. I’m terrified to even fly now.”
Speaking from his hospital bed, Vishwash shared the horrifying experience with local media: “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise, and then we crashed. It all happened so fast. When I stood up, there were bodies everywhere. I just ran.
“I don’t even know how I got out of the plane.”
He recalled waking up surrounded by bodies, feeling paralyzed by fear before he “stood up and ran.” He said someone “grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital".
Vishwash reported suffering “impact injuries” to his chest, eyes, and feet.
Reports from Reuters state that Vishwash jumped out of the emergency exit located next to his seat.
His father had been on the phone with him right before takeoff.
“He said, ‘We’re about to go,’” Nayan recalled. “The next thing we knew, my dad was getting a video call.”
A video circulating online shows Vishwash limping away from the wreckage, disoriented and covered in blood, as black smoke billows behind him.
Dr Dhaval Gameti, who treated Vishwash, said: “He was disorientated, with multiple injuries all over his body. But he seems to be out of danger.”
Ramesh, who has lived in the UK since 2003, is a businessman with a wife and a four-year-old son. His boarding pass, shared with Indian media, confirmed his identity and seat number.
The aircraft crashed into accommodation housing trainee doctors less than a minute after takeoff. Flightradar24 data shows the last signal was at just 625 feet.
The pilot, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had more than 8,000 hours of flight experience, issued a mayday call before the crash, according to India’s aviation regulator.
Among the victims were several British families. Gloucester Muslim Society named three passengers: Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee, and their daughter Sara, four.
Also on the flight were spiritual wellness entrepreneurs Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek. Just before boarding, they posted a cheerful video to Instagram joking about the “10-hour flight back to England.”