The moment the sole survivor of the Air India plane accident recorded to escape the burning wreckage has been published in new footage.
On June 12, 40-year-old British man Vishwash Kumar Ramesh magnificently managed to crawl out and walk away from the wreckage of the Air India flight that removed all other 241 passengers and crew.
The doomed AI171 jet fated for London also removed dozens more on the ground, with the passing toll officially rising to 270, as it smashed into a building used for doctors’ accommodation for a medical college less than a minute after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India.
A new video shows the moment the sole survivor of #AirIndiaCrash walking out of flames.. @Kshatriyadilip pic.twitter.com/uGB9b4FkDt
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) June 16, 2025
Ramesh was sat in seat 11a on the plane and is the only person to have survived the ordeal, which saw the jet go up in flames from a giant fireball when it plunged into the residential area.
The father-of-one from Leicester recalled from his hospital bed that he controled to ‘unbind’ himself from his seat and used his leg to push through an opening where he crawled out to safety.
“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. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital,” he shared.
Now, the unexpected moment Ramesh appeared from the wreckage has been published in new footage.
Meanwhile, hysteric people in the streets could be heard making calls to emergency services.
A passerby then approached the bleeding survivor and guided him away from the wreckage into the arms of emergency services as dozens more rushed to his aid.
Ramesh, who was returning home to his family in the UK alongside his brother Ajay on the flight, tragically lost his sibling who was sitting in a seat on the same row.
He shared in an interview with Indian state media DD News that the part of the jet he was sitting in was near to the ground and had not made contact with the building.
As for how the crash occured, Ramesh confirmed he ‘can’t explain’ everything but recalled a ‘loud noise’ and ‘flickering lights’ inside the aircraft within seconds of taking off.
“I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me,” he shared.
“For a moment, I felt like I was going to pass away too, but when I opened my eyes and looked around, I realised I was alive.
“I still can’t believe how I survived. I walked out of the rubble.”
Doctors treating him have declared Ramesh dealt with only minor injuries, with abrasions to his arm and some swelling to his eyes, but is fortunately ‘vitally stable’.
Authorities have controled to recover the jet’s black box from the crash site – from the rooftop of a nearby building – which will reveal second-by-second what happened before the fatal collision, including pilot conversations, radio transmissions and any other warning alarms or signs.
Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD of Air India, has also offered an interim payment of 25 lakh rupees, or approximately £21,000 (around $28,000), to each of the families of the deceased and survivors in addition to the 1 crore rupees, approx £85,000 ($115k), committed by Tata Sons.
