World3 min(s) read
Published 16:02 15 Sep 2025 GMT
The wife of the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash has opened up about how he is getting on in the aftermath of such a traumatic event.
On June 12, Air India Flight 171 crashed into the hostel block of Byramjee Jeejeebhoy (B. J.) Medical College, just 32 seconds after lifting off from Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for London Gatwick, lost location data 50 seconds after takeoff, reaching only 625 feet in altitude before plummeting.
The accident killed 260 people — including all 12 crew members, 229 of 230 passengers, and 19 people on the ground. The sole survivor was identified as 40-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh from Leicester.
Ramesh, who had been seated near the emergency exit in seat 11A, escaped with facial cuts and chest injuries.
Locals hailed him as the “miracle man” and “God’s child” after he walked away from the wreckage. Reflecting on his survival, he later said: “I don’t know how I came out of it alive. I saw people dying in front of my eyes.”
His brother Ajay, 35, who was seated across the aisle, was among those killed. The two siblings had run a fishing business together and were preparing to return to their homes in the UK at the end of the season.
Although alive, Ramesh has been left traumatized. “He can’t sleep at night,” his nephew, Krunal Keshave, told The Sunday Times.
“He sleeps but doesn’t sleep properly. When he sleeps, he dreams he is on the flight. He remembers seeing everyone die in front of his eyes.”
Keshave added: “He sees him (Ajay) everywhere. He speaks but he doesn’t speak about the crash. His wife and his son… are there with him, supporting him. He is trying to have a normal life, but he is not going out too much. He is spending time at home with the family.”
Another relative said: “He feels guilty that he is the only one to have lived when everybody else, including his brother, died. It’s a lot to live with.”
In an interview with The Times, Ramesh’s wife Hiral confirmed that he remains under medical supervision in India.
She said he continues to grieve his brother, and that his recovery — both physical and emotional — remains uncertain.
“I’m not sure when he’s coming back to the UK as his treatment is going on,” she alleged on Friday (September 12). “Everything happened in front of him and the main thing is he lost his brother. He’s not talking to anyone in the media, even in India.”
Hiral has since returned to the UK with their four-year-old son so he could resume school. The boy reportedly ‘understood’ why he needed to go back to England, but continues to ‘miss his dad’.
According to Ramesh’s brother-in-law, there are doubts he will ever return to Britain. “I think he will stay over there because he would be too frightened to get on a plane again,” he told the Daily Mail.
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