Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the only survivor of the tragic Air India crash in Ahmedabad, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where he is receiving treatment. PM Modi, who visited the crash site and met several victims’ families, inquired about Ramesh’s health and listened to his account of the incident. “The prime minister asked about my well-being and how it all unfolded. I told him that I am okay,” Ramesh told DD News.
Recalling the horrific accident, Ramesh—who was seated in row 11A, near the emergency exit—said he still struggles to comprehend how he survived. “For a moment, I thought I was going to die. But when I opened my eyes and saw the wreckage, I realized I was alive,” he said in an interview with the Hindustan Times. Ramesh described the moments before the crash: “Within 5 to 10 seconds of takeoff, the flight felt stuck in the air, lights started flickering, and then we hit something.
Ramesh said his section of the aircraft didn’t crash onto the building’s roof like the rest of the plane, which may have saved his life. “When I saw the exit, I thought I could come out. I tried, and I did. Others on the opposite side may not have had that chance.” He recalled seeing passengers and crew die in front of him and said, “I walked out of the rubble. I still don’t know how I made it.” The Air India flight AI171, carrying 241 passengers, crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad, with Ramesh as the sole survivor. A high-level probe has been ordered by the civil aviation ministry.
