
British Air India crash survivor reveals how he was the only passenger able to free himself and get out of the doomed plane alive
Brit Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was sitting in seat 11A, said it was a 'miracle' he survived last Thursday's disaster that killed 279 people.
However he added he feels 'terrible' he could not save his brother Ajay and now feels racked with guilt over his death.
The 40-year-old from Leicester told The Sun: 'It's a miracle I survived. I am OK physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.'
Vishwash had tried to book two seats next to each other on flight AI171, which crashed into a densely populated part of the city of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff.
However by the time he came to make the reservation, he was forced to pick to two seats apart from each other in row 11.
Vishwash said: 'If we had been sat together we both might have survived.
'I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together.
'But I lost my brother in front of my eyes. So now I am constantly thinking 'Why can't I save my brother?'
Vishwash, who was sitting next to one of the plane's emergency exits, was able to crawl through a hole in the twisted fuselage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
However, Ajay who was sitting in seat 11J, died alongside a further 240 passengers and crew.
Footage exclusively obtained by MailOnline showed Vishwash tried going back to the site of the inferno to save his brother.
Vishwash told the first emergency service worker on site: 'My family member is in there, my brother and he's burning to death. I have to save him.'
Emergency worker Satinder Singh Sandhu said: 'I walked nearer to Mr Ramesh, grabbed him by the arm and led him away to a waiting ambulance.
'I had no idea that he was a passenger on the plane and thought he was a resident of the hostel or a passer-by.
'He was very disoriented and shocked and was limping. There was also blood on his face, but he was able to speak.
'He told the paramedics that he was flying to London when the plane fell and that he wanted to go back to save his family.'
People look at the debris of an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad of India's Gujarat state, June 12
Vishwash, who had plasters on his face, today carried his brother's coffin at a ceremony in Gujarat.
He was later seen crying in anguish, and had to be carried away.
Last week's crash was one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed.
Th aircraft struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad last week, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, 52 of whom were British.
Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, an Air India flight on the same route as the plane that crashed last week was cancelled because of 'precautionary checks', the airline said.
Air India's website shows the Flight AI159 was initially delayed by one hour and 50 minutes but was later cancelled.
A flight from Gatwick to Amritsar, India, was also axed.
The cancelled flights were scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which is the same type of aircraft that crashed shortly after take-off at Ahmedabad on June 12.
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Daily Mirror
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Telegraph
8 hours ago
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Daily Mail
14 hours ago
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An Air India plane has skidded off a runway and burst three of its tyres as it landed in Mumbai. The plane, an Airbus A320, suffered damage to the underside of an engine, forcing the runway at Mumbai International Airport to shut down amid heavy rain in the region. Air India flight AI2744, which had flown from the Indian city of Kochi, lost control and veered off the airport's main runway onto an unpaved area before stopping on a taxiway. Photos of the plane showed significant damage to the outermost part of the plane's engine, as well as clumps of wet grass lodged into its wing. A spokesperson for Air India said: 'Flight AI2744, operating from Kochi to Mumbai on 21 July 2025, experienced heavy rain during landing, resulting in a runway excursion after touchdown. 'The aircraft taxied safely to the gate and all passengers and crew members have since disembarked. The aircraft has been grounded for checks. 'The safety of passengers and crew remain our top priority.' Mumbai International Airport said in a statement that its primary runway suffered 'minor damages' during the incident. The airport said a backup runway has now been 'activated' to allow planes to arrive and depart. Air India is already facing heavy scrutiny following the release of a preliminary report into the deadly crash of one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners in the Indian city of Ahmedabad last month, killing 260 people. Just one person, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, who was sitting in seat 11A, managed to walk away alive, only suffering cuts to his face and some chest injuries. A further 19 people were killed after the plane collided into a densely populated part of the city. The 15-page report revealed that the switches controlling fuel supplied to the plane's engines were in the 'cutoff' position, instead of the 'run' position. The report read: 'The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off.' Vishwash's family said he is still haunted by nightmares where he sees 'everyone die.' He is reportedly wracked with guilt as he faces the reality of being the only person out of 242 passengers and crew to survive the crash after the jetliner slammed into the ground and burst into flames. He struggles to sleep at night, according to a member of his extended family, Krunal Keshave, 24, from Leicester. 'He sleeps but doesn't sleep properly. When he sleeps, he dreams he is on the flight. He remembers seeing everyone die in front of his eyes.' The miracle survivor previously said he feels 'terrible' he could not save his brother Ajay, 35, and feels tormented with guilt over his death. The pair ran a fishing business in Diu, India and would live there during the fishing season - which begins in September and ends in May - then would return to Leicester for the off-season. 'He sees him speaks but he doesn't speak about the crash. He is currently trying to have a normal life, but he is not going out too much. He is spending time at home with the family. He was living in the house in Diu with his brother before the crash,' Krunal told The Sunday Times. Another relative said: 'He feels guilty that he is the only one to have lived when everybody else, including his brother, died. It's a lot to live with.' The 40-year-old told The Sun: 'It's a miracle I survived. I am OK physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.' Vishwash had tried to book two seats next to each other on flight AI171, which crashed into a densely populated part of the city of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff. But by the time he came to make the reservation, he was forced to pick two seats apart from each other in row 11. Vishwash said: 'If we had been sat together we both might have survived. 'I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together.