LIFE IS not normal yet for Viswash Kumar Ramesh, the lone survivor of the London-Gatwick bound flight, Air India 171, that crashed on June 12 killing 241 on board and 19 on the ground. He spends most of his time alone, unable to talk to even his family.
In an interview to BBC News, Viswash, who is in his 30s, who lost his younger brother Ajay, said his escape was a “miracle” and that he considered himself the “luckiest man alive”.
Viswash walked away from the wreckage of the London-bound flight in Ahmedabad which claimed 260 lives, including that of former chief minister Vijay Rupani who was on board, and 19 on the ground, as it crashed into a hostel building of the BJ Medical College. Seen first by paramedics, there are videos of Viswash walking out of the crash site, with smoke and fire billowing in the background.
Viswash was seated on 11A in the Boeing 787-8 aircraft, while his younger brother Ajay was on seat 11J.
He is the eldest among four brothers, sons of Ramesh Kumar Bhalaiya, belonging to a family of fishermen from Diu. Since returning to his home in Leicester, Viswash, a British citizen, has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), his advisers said.
Breaking down during parts of the interview at his home in Leicester, Viswash told BBC News: “I’m only one survivor. Still, I’m not believing. It’s a miracle. I lost my brother as well. My brother is my backbone. Last few years, he was always supporting me. Now I’m alone. I just sit in my room alone, not talking with my wife, my son. I just like to be alone in my house.”
On June 12, Air India’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft enroute to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad crashed soon after take off, killing 260 people. (Express file photo)
When asked about his memories of the day of the crash, he said: “I can’t say anything about that now.”
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Flanked by local community leader Sanjiv Patel and family spokesman Radd Seiger, Viswash said it was too painful to recall the events of the disaster.
“For me, after this accident… very difficult. Physically, mentally, also my family as well, mentally… my mum last four months, she is sitting every day outside the door, not talking, nothing. I’m not talking to anyone else. I do not like to talk with anyone else. I can’t talk about much. I’m thinking all night, I’m suffering mentally,” BBC News quoted him as saying.
“Every day is painful for the whole family,” said Viswash. He said he still cannot walk properly and is assisted by his wife. He has not been able to go back to work or drive since the tragedy.
Firefighters work at the site of an airplane that crashed in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Thursday, June12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
The Bhalaiyas belong to Patelwadi village in the Union Territory of Diu that lost 14 people in the crash, four of them Britons.
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Ramesh Kumar Bhalaiya, who is from Leicester, had rushed back with wife Dahyaben and his other younger sons Nayan and Sunny to Ahmedabad to help identify Ajay’s body.
The family owns boats that go out to sea and they return to Diu every fishing season. In London, the sons work in a garment store in Leicester, which has several families from Diu who are now British citizens like the Bhalaiyas. The entire family came to Diu in September last year, when the fishing season started, and everyone except Ajay and Viswash left in January.
Sanjiv Patel told BBC News that the family was in crisis, “mentally, physically, financially”.
Air India has offered an interim compensation to the family of £21,500, which has been accepted, but his advisers told BBC News it was not enough to meet his immediate needs.
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Sieger, the family’s spokesman, told BBC News they had invited Air India for a meeting on three occasions, and all three were either “ignored or turned down”.
In a statement, the airline, which is owned by Tata Group, said senior leaders from the parent company continue to visit families to express their deepest condolences.
Seiger said the media interviews were the team’s way of reissuing that appeal for the fourth time. “It’s appalling that we are having to sit here today and put him [Viswash] through this. The people who should be sitting here today are the executives of Air India, the people responsible for trying to put things right,” he said.
“Please come and sit down with us so that we can work through this together to try and alleviate some of this suffering,” Seiger told BBC News.
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In its statement, Air India said, “An offer has been made to Mr Ramesh’s (Viswash) representatives to arrange such a meeting, we will continue to reach out and we very much hope to receive a positive response.” This offer was made before the media interviews with Viswash, it said.
