Amid the smoldering remains of the downed Boeing 787-8 in the Indian city of Meghaninagar, one image stunned rescuers and viewers alike: a wounded man, staggering, walking alone toward an ambulance. He wore a white T-shirt stained with blood, dark pants, and walked with a limp. His face was a portrait of pain, confusion, and anger.
That man is Ramesh Vishwashkumar, a 48-year-old British citizen and, so far, the only confirmed survivor of flight AI-171. He had been seated in 11A.
According to The Hindustan Times, Vishwashkumar had traveled to India to visit family. He had spent a few days in the coastal city of Diu with his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, 45, and both were returning to London aboard the Air India flight bound for Gatwick Airport.
“When I got up, there were dead bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane everywhere,” he told the Indian newspaper. He still had his boarding pass for seat 11A when he was taken to the hospital. In a video circulating on social media, he is seen walking disoriented through the wreckage, surrounded by people trying to assist him, while he repeats anxiously: “I can’t find my brother. He was with me, in a different row. Please help me find him.”
Vishwashkumar has lived in London for over two decades with his wife and son. While no official medical report has been released, footage confirms he was conscious, visibly injured, yet managed to walk away from the crash on his own.
Flight AI-171 was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. Among them were 169 Indian citizens, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. The aircraft took off at 1:38 p.m. local time on Thursday from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport but crashed just 1.6 kilometers later, in a densely populated area of Meghaninagar filled with narrow streets, markets, hospitals, and homes.
The aftermath was devastating: charred vehicles, damaged buildings, bodies covered in fire retardant foam, and rescue teams digging through debris. Authorities have yet to confirm whether all victims were on board or if local residents were also affected by the impact.
At Ahmedabad hospital, dozens of people were desperately searching for their loved ones. Among them was Sailesh Mandliya, a former aide to Gujarat’s former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was also on the flight. “We’re looking for him. If anyone knows anything, please tell us,” he said to The Hindustan Times.
Air India has confirmed it is working closely with authorities and has dispatched a special support team to Ahmedabad. The airline’s CEO, Campbell Wilson, issued a public message expressing his “deep sorrow” over the tragedy and said efforts are focused on assisting passengers, their families, and first responders.
As investigations continue into the cause of the crash, the figure of Ramesh Vishwashkumar stands out as a poignant exception. His fragmented testimony is, for now, one of the few firsthand accounts of what happened inside the fuselage before the impact. In a disaster that claimed more than 200 lives, his unsteady walk through the wreckage has become an unsettling — and deeply human — symbol of life hanging by a thread.
