Lone survivor: What we know about the only man to survive the Air India crash

Air India passenger plane crashes with 244 aboard

An Air India flight (AI171), which was flying from Ahmedabad to London, crashed just after takeoff. The plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, had 244 people on board 232 passengers and 12 crew members.

The only man to survive a plane crash that killed more than 240 people in India miraculously walked away from the crash scene and to a nearby ambulance after being thrown from the plane.

The crash happened Thursday afternoon in Ahmedabad, where a London-bound Boeing 787-8 crashed into a residential area five minutes after takeoff. Video on social media shows the jet slowly losing altitude as if it were landing. As soon as it was out of view, a large fireball filled the sky.

The flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew. Of those, Air India said there were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. The death toll also includes medical students who were in a college hostel when the plane hit the building.

Who is the lone survivor in the Air India crash?

What we know:

A doctor at a nearby hospital identified the lone survivor as Vishwashkumar Ramesh, who was traveling to London with his brother.

Vishwashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash, speaks with doctors from a hospital bed (Indian Home Minister Amit Shah)

Indian news channel videos reportedly showed a bloodied Ramesh walking away from the crash site, with people running behind him.

What they're saying:

Ramesh told a medic at the scene that the plane began descending immediately after takeoff, then suddenly split in two and ejected him before a loud explosion.

"When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran," he told local newspaper Hindustan Times.

"He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body," Dr. Dhaval Gameti, who treated Ramesh, told The Associated Press. "But he seems to be out of danger."

Ramesh video-called his father immediately after the crash.

"He video called my dad as he crashed and said, ‘Oh the plane’s crashed. I don’t know where my brother is. I don’t see any other passengers. I don’t know how I’m alive, how I exited the plane’," Ramesh’s brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, told Sky News.

What we don't know:

The cause of the crash is still unknown. A team of U.S. investigators is traveling to India to help with the investigation. British air accident investigators are also going to the scene to help.

Former FAA and NTSB crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti told The Associated Press it’s a mystery why the airplane was having difficulty climbing in the final moments of the flight. He said he doesn’t believe it was caused by a bird strike.

The back of Air India flight 171 is pictured at the site after it crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. (Photo by SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Guzzetti said it’s possible that both engines started to "roll back" and lose power at the same time.

"This happened on a (Boeing) 777 crash coming into Heathrow about 15 years ago. It was a dual engine roll back due to icing in the fuel. So there could be a fuel issue," he said.

"Usually fuel contamination issues rear their ugly head during takeoff," he explained.

The Source: This report includes information from The Associated Press.

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