Air India crash survivor Viswashkumar Ramesh's fight continues: Insufficient compensation, business' collapse, and PTSD
The tragedy unfolded on June 12, 2025 when an Air India plane –a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – got engulfed in flames after crashing shortly post its take off. Viswashkumar Ramesh is the sole survivor of the crash
Air India plane crash's sole survivor Viswashkumar Ramesh, who had walked out alive of the deadly crash months back, still continues to struggle nearly five months after the tragedy. Since returning to his home in Leicester, he has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Still carrying the scars of the deadly Ahmedabad crash that killed 241 people on board, Viswashkumar Ramesh has been unable to speak to his wife and four-year-old son, reported the BBC.
“Now I'm alone. I just sit in my room alone, not talking with my wife, my son. I just like to be alone in my house,” Ramesh told the media outlet.
What happened in the Air India plane crash?
The tragedy dates back to 12 June 2025, when an Air India plane ( AI-171) bound for London– a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – got engulfed in flames after crashing shortly after its take off.
The plane smashed into the BJ Medical College Hostel in Ahmedabad, killing all 241 people, except one on board and several others on the ground.
Students were eating their lunch when the Boeing jet bludgeoned the hostel, killing several medicos.
Viswashkumar Ramesh's story
The 40-year-old survivor was seated at 11A near the Emergency Exit. Following the crash, he said he managed to escape the wreckage through an opening in the fuselage.
“I managed to unbuckle myself, used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out,” Vishwashkumar Ramesh had told DD News back then.
Ramesh's brother, who was also on the same flight with him — was killed in the crash.
It has been nearly five months since the harrowing Air India plane crash – which is dubbed as one of the worst in the history of aviation – but Ramesh's struggle continues.
Ramesh unable to walk
The sole survivor of the crash also told BBC he has pain in his leg, shoulder, knee and back, and has not been able to work or drive since the tragedy.
And, it isn't just the mental and physical crisis that the Air India crash has triggered for Ramesh. His family is also going through a financial crisis.
Ramesh's advisors told the BBC the family fishing business in Diu which the survivor ran with his brother before the crash, has since collapsed –severing the family's income.
Air India has offered an interim compensation payment to Ramesh of rs 25 lakhs (£21,500), which has been accepted, but his advisers say this is not enough to meet his immediate needs.
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