Air India survivor shares guilt after last-minute seat swap cost his brother’s life

Vishwash Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India crash that claimed the lives of 242 people and at least 39 people on the ground, has detailed living with survivor’s guilt following the horrific accident.

On June 12, Air India Flight 171 from Ahmedabad to London came down shortly after taking off. All passengers bar Vishwash were killed in the ensuing explosion, with authorities in both India and the UK conducting an investigation into what went wrong. Though officials are still combing through black box data and expert opinions, the “most probable” cause is seemingly dual engine power loss.

Vishwash Ramesh was able to survive in Seat 11A – something experts have claimed contributed to his survival – and now he has shared his tragic story.

Vishwash Ramesh was on the Air India flight with his brother

Credit: Xinhua/Shutterstock

Vishwash and his brother Ajay run two fishing businesses in Diu, India, but reside in the UK during the monsoon season, which makes fishing nearly impossible. They had boarded the flight in the hopes of returning to Leicester, where Vishwash’s family resides, but immediately after taking off, the survivor knew something was wrong.

“It felt like something got stuck and the lights started flickering. Everything happened in seconds. I realised we were going down,” he told The Sun in a new interview.

“The aircraft wasn’t gaining altitude and was just gliding. After that, the plane seemed to speed up, before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded. Everything was visible in front of my eyes when the crash happened. I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive.”

Viswashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor in the Air India crash that killed nearly 271 people, mourned his brother Ajay, as he carried his coffin through the funeral procession https://t.co/5UTF7DNEKa pic.twitter.com/BheGiRVnuJ

— Reuters (@Reuters) June 18, 2025

Most Read

The best three UK unis for each subject in 2026, according to the Complete University Guide

The absolute worst unis in the UK right now according to the Complete University Guide

It’s over! OnlyFans confirms Bonnie Blue’s ban is permanent and the exact reason why

Vishwash managed to crawl through the broken fuselage to freedom, but his brother was not so lucky. In a cruel twist of fate, he told the news outlet how Ajay was initially supposed to be sitting with him near the emergency exits by seat 11A. Instead, the brothers were forced to sit seperately with Ajay across the aisle in 11J.

He explained: “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?’ It’s a miracle I survived. I am okay physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.”

He also reportedly told his friends: “I wish I was not alive.”

For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook.

Featured image credit: Hanif Sindh/UP/Shutterstock/BBC