Viswash Kumar Ramesh is the only person pulled alive from the wreckage of Air India Flight AI171, and his account of crawling through flames is sending shockwaves around the world Reuters. The 40-year-old British-Indian passenger said the Dreamliner “hung in midair” before plowing into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad at more than 200 mph.
Seated in emergency exit row 11A, Ramesh noticed the cabin wall buckle and a window burst into flames The Guardian first reported. He unfastened his seatbelt, jammed his feet into a torn metal gap, then wriggled through the wing-box tunnel—the jet’s strongest section—as seats behind him exploded in fire.
@KateCourtneyLive: “I saw passengers engulfed in fire” via X
“I saw the screams,” Ramesh told BBC News, describing the inferno that swallowed the cabin via BBC News. His brother, Ajaykumar, sat just across the aisle; their last text—“See you soon, bhai”—became a haunting goodbye New York Post revealed.
Emergency crews described the scene as “apocalyptic” in live updates shared by @DiscussingFilm, showing firefighters in gas masks hauling charred bodies from the hostel’s collapsed ground floor View on X.
Doctors at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital treated Ramesh’s severe burns and smoke inhalation, calling his survival “nothing short of a miracle” Hindustan Times. Despite third-degree burns, he required no major surgery.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ramesh in hospital, commending his bravery and praising first responders who recovered 241 bodies per Reuters.
Flight data recorders were recovered and sent to the U.S. NTSB, with preliminary findings showing engine thrust anomalies seconds before impact CNN.
Aviation Week’s safety analysts @AviationWeek highlighted that the Dreamliner’s emergency-exit rows are reinforced to withstand crushing forces, explaining how Ramesh’s section remained intact as the rest of the cabin collapsed via Aviation Week.
@ImmSecPro: “This crash exposes vulnerabilities in aircraft evacuation design” via X
Ramesh recounted that surreal half-second before the crash: “Time slowed, then everything went white-hot,” he said in an NPR segment reported by NPR.
Eyewitnesses livestreamed chaos on Instagram, with @CitizenJournalist showing black smoke billowing from shattered windows as Al Jazeera covered.
India Today published Ramesh’s full narrative, noting he followed a flight attendant’s shouted instructions to move toward exit lights via India Today.
@SpaceWatchIndia: “Satellite images show crash scars on the hostel roof visible from orbit” via X
Boeing dispatched a technical task force to inspect all 787-8s, grounding the fleet pending safety checks Washington Post.
Psychological teams offered grief counseling to survivors’ families, as @HindTimesNews reported via Hindustan Times.
@PlaneGeek: “Animated reconstruction reveals impact angle and flight path—an aviation case study” View on X
Local police ordered a forensic audit of hostel building codes after reports that substandard construction accelerated collapse under the plane’s weight Al Jazeera follow-up.
Ahmedabad’s skyline, now scarred by that afternoon blaze, stands as a grim reminder. For Viswash Kumar Ramesh, every breath is a gift won through sheer will—and a stark warning that even modern jets can become death traps without rigorous safety protocols. His final plea: “Fix these planes, improve exit designs—so no one else has to crawl through hellfire.” India Today
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