Ahmedabad, June 13 — In a tragedy that has shaken the nation, only one man survived the devastating crash of Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that went down just moments after take-off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon. The lone survivor, 40-year-old British-Indian national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was seated in 11A.
The aircraft, bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, crashed at 1:38 pm, seconds after departure, slamming into the southern wing of a multi-storey hostel in the Meghaninagar area. The building housed resident doctors from BJ Medical College. The crash killed 229 passengers and 12 crew members on board. Additionally, five medical students on the ground lost their lives, pushing the total death toll to 246.
Ramesh, a businessman based in the United Kingdom, emerged from the wreckage bloodied, burned and in shock. His brother, seated across the aisle in seat 11J, was among those who perished. “Everything happened in front of my eyes. I thought I would die,” he told Doordarshan from his hospital bed, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited him at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.
The crash is being called India’s worst single-aircraft disaster in recent memory. According to preliminary air traffic control logs, flight AI-171 took off from runway 23 at exactly 13:38 IST. Initial climb appeared routine, but within seconds, the pilot issued a distress “Mayday” call. Eyewitnesses near the airport reported hearing a strange, uneven engine noise before watching the aircraft enter a steep nosedive.
“It was like a giant fireball falling from the sky,” said an eyewitness who lives near the crash site. The impact destroyed a portion of the hostel and sent a shockwave through the area, with emergency crews rushing in within minutes.
Officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have begun an investigation, and black box recovery is underway. Early focus is on the aircraft’s engines and flight control systems, given the abnormal sounds and rapid descent. Both Indian and international aviation authorities, including Boeing representatives and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), are expected to be involved.
The tragic incident has also raised questions about the Dreamliner’s airworthiness and prompted the Union government to consider grounding the entire Boeing 787-8 fleet in India for a comprehensive safety review. Simultaneously, Air India’s maintenance procedures are likely to come under scrutiny.
With hundreds of lives lost, including young doctors and international passengers, the crash has triggered an outpouring of grief. The Tata Group, which owns Air India, has announced ₹1 crore compensation for the families of each deceased passenger.
As the nation mourns and investigations continue, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh remains the only living witness to the final moments of flight AI-171 — and to a tragedy that has left an indelible scar on India’s aviation history.
