“I Walked Out of the Rubble”: A Survivor’s Tale from the Air India Crash
It’s hard to imagine what it feels like to stare death in the face and somehow walk away from it. But that's exactly what happened to Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British businessman originally from India, who miraculously survived the catastrophic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad. Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr. Ramesh recounted his harrowing escape in chilling detail, and honestly, it's nothing short of a miracle.
The crash happened just seconds after takeoff on Thursday, when the London-bound Boeing 787 suddenly slammed into a building near the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital. Onboard were 169 Indian nationals and 52 British passengers, along with the crew — none survived except Mr. Ramesh.
He was seated in 11A, and as he described it, everything changed in an instant. The lights flickered — green and white — and within seconds, the plane felt like it was stuck mid-air. Then came the impact. A violent crash followed by an explosion. “I managed to unbuckle myself, used my leg to push through an opening in the fuselage, and crawled out,” he said. That’s how he made it out — pushing through debris, smoke, and sheer terror.
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What’s even more haunting is his memory of what happened inside. He saw people dying around him — flight attendants, fellow passengers — right before his eyes. He thought it was over. But when he came to and saw a way out, survival instinct took over. The section of the plane he was in had miraculously landed away from the main impact point, giving him that sliver of a chance — and he took it.
He walked away from the wreckage. Quite literally. Footage on social media showed him limping toward an ambulance, with smoke still thick in the background. It’s surreal.
And while he’s alive, his heart is heavy. His brother Ajay was also on that flight and remains unaccounted for. His family back in Leicester is shattered, caught between relief for one life spared and anguish for another potentially lost. According to his other brother, Nayan, Vishwashkumar’s first concern after the crash was for Ajay — nothing else seemed to matter.
Mr. Ramesh, a father and husband, has lived in the UK since 2003. His injuries are serious, but doctors say he is out of immediate danger. And on Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited him in the hospital, a rare gesture acknowledging the gravity of what he survived.
It’s easy to talk about plane crashes as statistics or breaking news alerts — but hearing it from the only survivor turns the tragedy into something heartbreakingly real. One man, crawling out of a torn-apart aircraft, watching death all around him, and somehow still walking. “I still can't believe how I survived,” he said. Neither can we.
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