Update surviving sole passenger from Air India flight revealed.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the only person to walk away from a plane crash that killed 260 others, and he’s still trying to understand why he survived.
Fatal flight profiled.
The jetliner crashed less than a minute after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India, bound for London Gatwick on June 12.
Flight AI171 had been cleared for takeoff at 08:08 UTC and reached 180 knots within seconds, climbing to just 625 feet.
Less than a minute in, the aircraft dropped off the radar. The cause? Both engines lost power almost simultaneously.
AAIB officials discovered that both fuel switches had been flipped, severing fuel to the Dreamliner’s engines just after liftoff.
The doomed aircraft slammed into a hostel housing medical staff from Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College, adding to the devastation.
According to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s report, both engine fuel-control switches were deliberately flipped from “RUN” to “CUTOFF.”
A cockpit voice recording reveals one pilot asked the other, “Why did you do the cut-off?” seconds before the Boeing 787-8 fell from the sky.
Flight voice recordings capture eerie confusion as one pilot insists he didn’t touch the switches that shut off both engines.
“These switches require force and intent to move,” said Captain Byron Bailey. “This couldn’t have been a mistake.”
Clive Kunder, 32, was flying. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, was monitoring. U.S. authorities suspect it was Sabharwal who triggered the cutoff.
“Three seconds after takeoff is the perfect time,” Bailey added. “It’s when the aircraft is at its most vulnerable.”
Details of investigation unveiled.
Investigators say flipping both fuel switches accidentally is “virtually impossible,” hinting at potential human interference.
While lawsuits haven’t been filed yet, families are reportedly demanding answers, and the Indian aviation board is under pressure.
The Indian Commercial Pilots Association slammed early theories of pilot s******, calling them “a disservice to the profession.”
“It is deeply insensitive to the families involved,” the statement read. “These claims must be backed by evidence, not speculation.”
Despite resistance from pilot unions, the voice and data recorders are telling a grim story that investigators can’t ignore.
The 15-page preliminary report has left the world with more questions than answers. Everyone now awaits the final findings.
International aviation bodies are involved in piecing together what happened during those fateful 50 seconds of flight.
Ramesh’s survival story highlighted.
Seated in 11A on Air India Flight AI171, Ramesh suffered only minor physical injuries—but the emotional aftermath is anything but light.
Though he escaped with facial and chest injuries, Ramesh is consumed with guilt, especially over the death of his younger brother, Ajay.
Ajay, 35, was also on board. The two brothers ran a fishing business together and were heading home to the UK after the season.
Ramesh escaped through the emergency exit and was called “God’s child” by locals, but he says survival feels more like a sentence than a miracle.
Devastating update clarified.
Now 40, Ramesh wakes up in cold sweats. His nights are fractured by haunting flashbacks of watching every other soul on board perish.
“I don’t know how I came out of it alive,” Ramesh told relatives. “I saw people dying in front of my eyes.”
“He sleeps but doesn’t sleep properly,” said Krunal Keshave. “When he sleeps, he dreams he is on the flight again.”
Ramesh stays indoors with his wife and young son. “He is trying to have a normal life, but he is not going out too much,” said a relative.
“He speaks, but he doesn’t speak about the crash,” said a cousin. “He’s stuck in the moment everything went wrong.”
Once celebrated for defying the odds, Ramesh is now shrouded in trauma, pain, and a gnawing sense of why him—not his brother.
“He feels guilty that he is the only one to have lived,” a family member shared. “It’s hard to look at him and not think of all the others.”
One man lived — now the world wants to know why.
For Ramesh, the miracle of survival came with lifelong trauma. No therapy, no words, and no family hug has made it easier.
As questions swirl and investigations deepen, one truth remains: a man in seat 11A survived the unthinkable, but not without cost.