The sole survivor of the devastating Air India crash is haunted by nightmares where everyone dies and refuses to speak about the horror he went through, his family said.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was the only person to walk away alive after the Boeing 787 slammed into a residential building in Ahmedabad, India, killing 241 people on board and 19 on the ground — including his own brother.
Despite being hailed across India as a “miracle man” and “symbol of hope,” the British national remains tormented. His cousin Krunal Keshave, 24, from Leicester, told The Sunday Times: “When he sleeps, he dreams he is on the flight. He remembers seeing everyone die in front of his eyes.”
Vishwash, who suffered cuts and chest injuries, has chosen to recover at his family home in Bucharwada hamlet in Diu rather than return to London or Leicester. He had been sitting in seat 11A, next to an emergency exit, and managed to crawl out of the wreckage through a hole in the fuselage.
His brother Ajay, 35, was sitting on the opposite side of the aisle in seat 11J. He was among the hundreds killed in one of the deadliest crashes involving British citizens in recent memory. “He sees him [Ajay] everywhere,” Keshave said. “He speaks but he doesn’t speak about the crash. His wife and his son [who is four] are there with him, supporting him. He is currently trying to have a normal life, but he is not going out too much. He is spending time at home with the family. He was living in the house in Diu with his brother before the crash.”
In an earlier interview, Vishwash recalled the moment the plane went down: “Everything was visible in front of my eyes when the crash happened. I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive.”
He added: “It’s a miracle I survived. I am OK physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay. If we had been sat together we both might have survived. I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one.”
The brothers had been returning to Leicester after the fishing season at their family business in Diu. They were scheduled to fly back to the UK on 12 June ahead of the monsoon. But moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport, Flight AI171 lost altitude and crashed into a medical college hostel.
Among the 260 total victims were 52 British citizens.
Now, investigators are focusing on what they believe may have been a chilling act in the cockpit. According to flight data reviewed by US authorities, captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, may have manually flipped the aircraft’s fuel cut-off switches — an action aviation experts say would have to be intentional.
A black box summary reportedly captures co-pilot Clive Kunder asking: “Why did you cut off?” Sabharwal responds: “I didn’t.” But data shows the switches were turned off one second apart, then flipped back on ten seconds later — too late to restart the engines.
The mysterious action came hours after reports emerged of Sabharwal making an unsettling remark to a security guard before leaving home that morning. What he said has not been revealed, but it is now part of the inquiry.
For Vishwash, surviving the crash has become its own kind of torment. “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,” another relative said.
After escaping the burning aircraft, Vishwash reportedly tried to run back in to save Ajay. “My family member is in there, my brother and he’s burning to death. I have to save him,” he pleaded with emergency workers.
Rescuer Satinder Singh Sandhu said: “He was very disoriented and shocked and was limping. There was also blood on his face, but he was able to speak. He told the paramedics that he was flying to London when the plane fell and that he wanted to go back to save his family.”
Doctors at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital later confirmed he was in stable condition, despite his physical injuries.
