Sole survivor of Air India crash suffers severe post-traumatic stress disorder after losing brother

The lone survivor of June’s Air India crash in the Indian city of Ahmedabad told BBC News he felt like the “luckiest man” in the world – but said the mark felt cruel as he mourned his brother and struggled with the physical and mental wounds left by the tragedy.

Viswashkumar Ramesh, 39, was the only person to walk away from the wreckage of the London-bound Boeing 787 after it crashed moments after takeoff in Ahmedabad.

He told BBC News that although his escape felt like a “miracle”, the loss of his younger brother and the trauma that followed prevented him from returning to a normal life.

“I also lost my brother. My brother is my backbone,” he said. “In recent years, he has always supported me.”

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This photo released by India’s Home Ministry shows Home Minister Amit Shah meeting Viswashkumar Ramesh, 40, a British plane crash survivor, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Indian Home Ministry via AP)

Since returning home to Leicester, Ramesh has struggled with severe post-traumatic stress, his advisers told the outlet, and has struggled to speak with his wife and 4-year-old son.

“Now I’m alone,” he said. “I just sit alone in my room, not talking with my wife, my son. I just like being alone in my house.”

Air India Flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick Airport, crashed in a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after takeoff, at 1:38 p.m. local time. There were 242 passengers and crew members on board the flight.

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Firefighters work to put out a fire at the accident site in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. (Reuters/Amit Dave/TPX Images of the Day)

Video from the scene showed smoke rising from the wreckage as Ramesh stumbled with minor visible injuries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later visited him in hospital, where Ramesh recalled unbuckling his seat belt and crawling out of the fuselage through an opening near his seat, 11A.

Speaking alongside local community leader Sanjiv Patel and family spokesperson Radd Seiger, Ramesh said reliving the accident remained too painful.

“I think all night, I suffer mentally,” he told BBC News. “Every day is painful for the whole family.”

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The tail of a crashed Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner is seen stuck on a building in Ahmedabad, India. (Reuters/Amit Dave/TPX Images of the Day)

Ramesh said he continues to suffer physical pain from leg, shoulder, knee and back injuries that prevent him from working or driving.

“When I walk, not properly, slowly, slowly, my wife helps me,” he said.

His advisers said he was diagnosed with PTSD while hospitalized in India, but had not received any further treatment since returning to the UK.

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Airplane landing gear at the crash site of Air India Ltd flight AI171. in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, on June 12, 2025. (Siddharaj Solanki/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

They described him as “lost and broken”, calling on top Air India officials to meet him and other families affected by the crash.

“They are in crisis mentally, physically and financially,” Patel said. “It devastated his family.”

Seiger said repeated requests to meet with the airline were ignored or denied.

“The people who should be sitting here today are the executives of Air India,” he said. “Please come sit with us so we can work together to try to alleviate some of this suffering.”

Fox News Digital has contacted Air India for comment on the matter.

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Air India, owned by the Tata group, nevertheless said in a statement to BBC News that company executives had continued to visit the families of the victims and that an offer to meet Ramesh’s representatives “remains open”.

The airline said caring for Ramesh and others affected by the crash “remains our top priority.”