Only survivor of Air India crash might never return home because of what happened to him
The family of the only survivor of the devastating Air India crash earlier this year have opened up about the impact it's had on him and why he may never come back home to the UK.
Earlier this summer (12 June), Air India Flight 171 crashed into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College less than a minute after takeoff from the Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel International Airport runway in Ahmedabad, India.
The horrific tragedy went on to claim the lives of 241 on board as well as 19 people on the ground, with 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh from Leicester being the sole survivor to escape the wreckage of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Three months later, Ramesh's wife, Hiral, has shared an update on his well-being in a new interview with The Times.
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Ramesh, who was sitting in seat 11A, is still recovering in India and grieving for his brother, Ajay, who had been sitting across the aisle.
Hiral explained that she had returned to the UK with their four-year-old son for the start of the school term while the rest of the family remained in India.
"[My son] understands but still misses his dad," she said. "I’m not sure when he’s coming back to the UK as his treatment is going on. Everything happened in front of him and the main thing is that he lost his brother.
"He’s not talking to anyone in the media, even in India."
According to the businessman’s brother-in-law, Ramesh may never return to the UK.
"I think he will stay over there because he would be too frightened to get on a plane again," he told the Daily Mail.
Ramesh previously spoke to the Hindustan Times about the moment the plane went down, claiming to have heard a 'loud noise' around 30 seconds after the plane, which was headed to London's Gatwick Airport, left the ground.
"It all happened so quickly," he recalled, revealing he'd sustained 'impact injuries' on his chest, eyes and feet.
"When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran," he continued. "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."
The day after the crash (13 June), Ramesh provided further detail about the moment the plane plummeted.
"When the flight took off, within five to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air," he went on to explain. "Suddenly, the lights started flickering – green and white – then the plane rammed into some establishment that was there."
Reflecting on his survival, Ramesh recalled: "When I saw the exit, I thought I could come out. I tried, and I did.
"Maybe the people who were on the other side of the plane weren’t able to."
He went on to admit he 'doesn't know how' he was able to make it out alive.
"I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me," Ramesh continued. "I walked out of the rubble."
The crash remains under investigation by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
Topics: Air India, Travel, World News, News, UK News
Rhiannon Ingle