Air India crash survivor reveals seat number and speaks out – ‘There were bodies all around me’

Vishwashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the tragic Air India crash in Ahmedabad, has shared his harrowing experience and revealed he was sitting in seat 11A when the plane went down.

On Thursday, an Air India flight bound for London’s Gatwick Airport crashed into a residential neighborhood in Ahmedabad, India, shortly after takeoff. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was carrying 242 people. Including those on the ground, more than 260 lives were lost in the disaster.

Footage of the crash showed the plane climbing briefly after takeoff before losing altitude and exploding in flames. It struck a building that housed medical students and their families, resulting in at least 24 deaths on the ground.

India’s Home Minister Amit Shah explained that the plane, carrying 125,000 liters of jet fuel, burned so intensely that survival seemed nearly impossible. “It was impossible to save anyone,” he said.

Despite this, one man survived.

A miracle in seat 11A

Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a businessman originally from India now living in the UK, was the only passenger to make it out alive. He told the Hindustan Times that he was seated in 11A when the plane crashed.

“Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” he recalled. “When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me.”

Ramesh, who still had his boarding pass when he was rescued, suffered bruises to his feet, chest, and eyes. He described being helped by someone who pulled him into an ambulance and rushed him to the hospital.

Family in shock, searching for answers

Ramesh’s brother, Nayan Kumar, said the family is still processing the miracle and the heartbreak. “We were all in shock… He [Vishwashkumar] himself has no idea how he survived,” Nayan told the BBC. “When he called us, he was more worried about my other brother, Ajay, who was also on the plane.”

Ramesh, who is married with a four-year-old son, was shown in videos walking toward an ambulance while smoke filled the sky behind him. At the hospital, he met with India’s Interior Minister, Amit Shah. Doctors say he is now out of danger.

The cause of the crash remains unknown. Authorities have recovered one of the two black boxes and are working to determine what caused the Boeing aircraft to fail so catastrophically. Air India is cooperating with Boeing and GE Aerospace to support the investigation.

Air India has also pledged to provide compensation to the victims’ families and to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure in the affected neighborhood.

“We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site,” said Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran.

The crash of Air India flight A171 marks one of the worst aviation tragedies in recent history. While the loss is deeply felt around the world, the survival of Vishwashkumar Ramesh has brought a small glimmer of hope and an incredible story of resilience.

As investigations continue, the world watches closely, hoping for answers—and for peace for those who lost loved ones.