Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Relatives seen consoling passenger 11A as he breaks down at brother’s funeral
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Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Relatives seen consoling passenger 11A as he breaks down at brother’s funeral
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, now known as “Passenger 11A” and “Air India plane crash lone survivor’, boarded the flight to the United Kingdom with his brother, Ajay Kumar. The Air India flight AI171, which took off from Ahmedabad Airport at Ahmedabad at 1:17 pm and was expected to land in London’s Gatwick Airport at 6:09 pm, crashed moments after it took off. All 242 passengers on board the flight, along with the crew, were feared dead until video of Vishwas walking out of the crash site went viral that evening.
The Air India flight AI171, which took off from Ahmedabad Airport at Ahmedabad at 1:17 pm and was expected to land in London’s Gatwick Airport at 6:09 pm, crashed moments after it took off from runway 23. All 242 passengers on board the flight, along with the crew, were feared dead until video of Vishwas walking out of the crash site went viral that evening.
After he limped out of the crash site, he tried to go back in to search for his brother, who was in seat 11J. An ambulance driver, Satinder Singh Sandhu, who was one of the first responders to the tragic incident, stopped him.
Sandhu even rushed Vishwash to the hospital where he was being treated for “impact injuries” to his chest, eyes and feet. After he got discharged from the hospital, his brother’s dead body was handed over to the family for the last rites.
A video of him breaking down at his brother’s funeral, as relatives and well-wishers console him, has been doing the rounds on social media and moving viewers to tears. Vishwas, with bandages on his forehead and cheek, is seen sobbing while someone holds him from behind, likely because he is still recovering from his injuries. Moments later, a woman is seen consoling him. He was later seen carrying his brother’s mortal remains to the cremation ground in Diu.
#WATCH | Diu | Lone survivor of AI-171 flight crash, Vishwas Ramesh Kumar, mourns the death of his brother Ajay Ramesh, who was travelling on the same flight
Vishwas Ramesh Kumar is a native of Diu and is settled in the UK. pic.twitter.com/fSAsCNwGz5 — ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2025
Vishwas, who is the only survivor, said that thirty seconds after take-off, the engine started making a very loud noise, and then it crashed into a building. “It happened very quickly,” he told Hindustan Times from the hospital bed.
He added, “When I got up, there were bodies all around me,” before expressing, “I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me.”
“Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”