Sole survivor of Air India crash ‘still dreams he is on the plane’

FILE PHOTO: A firefighter stands next to the crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo
Investigators are trying to uncover what led to the deadly crash (Picture: Reuters)

The only person to walk away from the deadly Air India flight last month is suffering from nightmares after his ordeal.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was the lone survivor from the plane, which crashed on June 12 in Ahmedabad, India.

The father-of-one, who had been in window seat 11A, stumbled out of the burning jet moments before it exploded, while all other 241 onboard – including his brother Ajay – were killed.

Family member Krunal Keshave, from Leicester, has now revealed the impact the tragedy has had on him: ‘He can’t sleep at night. 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.’

Ramesh had been travelling back to the UK, but has since remained in India with his wife and son, who are supporting him as he tries to live a normal life.

This screengrab of video footage taken and released by the Narendra Modi Youtube Channel on June 13, 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad.
Ramesh is trying to recover and live a normal life (Picture: AFP)

Keshave added: ‘He 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.’

Earlier this month, investigators looking into the Air India crash were trying to unravel a ‘mistake’ made by the pilots.

Assessments by US officials suggest the crash was not caused by problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The findings suggest that switches controlling fuel flow to the jet’s two engines were turned off.

This then led to an apparent loss of thrust shortly after takeoff.

Pilots on aircraft use the switches to start the jet’s engines, shut them down, or reset them in certain emergencies.

These switches would normally be on during flight, and it is unclear how or why they were turned off.

The US investigators have said that it is unclear whether the move was accidental or intentional, or whether there was an attempt to turn them back on, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Firefighters work to put out smouldering wreckage at the site where an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
Everyone onboard except for one man died (Picture: Reuters)

If the switches were off this could explain why the jet’s emergency-power generator—known as a ram air turbine, or RAT was activated before the aircraft crashed.

It’s also been revealed that the captain of the Air India plane vowed to return home soon to look after his elderly dad.

Just hours before one of India’s worst aviation disasters that killed 260 people, the captain, Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, had reportedly told the security guard in his apartment complex to look after his elderly father, who lived with him.

The captain, who had over 15,600 hours of experience in the cockpit, said: ‘Please, take care of papa. I will be back soon.’

His colleagues have rallied around him after the preliminary crash report appeared to shift the blame over the crash onto the pilots.

Other Air India pilots have claimed that Sabharwal struggled with mental health issues.

The doomed plane was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese people.

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