Photo Credit: India Today
On the scorching afternoon of June 12, 2025, Air India Flight AI 171—a Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner carrying 242 souls—lifted off from Ahmedabad bound for London. Moments later, it plummeted into a medical college hostel. In a scene of unimaginable horror, one man defied fate.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British-Indian seated in seat 11A, adrenaline-fueled instinct, or sheer luck, saw his only chance: he leaped through the emergency exit, plunging from the aircraft moments before or during impact.
He woke amid charred wreckage and lifeless bodies, “I was scared. I stood up and ran,” he would later say. Wounded and delirious, bleeding from multiple cuts, he limped to an ambulance, climbed in, and began the journey against the odds.
A Beacon Among the Fallen
Out of over 240 people aboard and dozens on the ground – it was only Ramesh who lived to tell the tale. His miraculous escape shone as a small, flickering light in an otherwise unthinkable tragedy.
Authorities initially feared double-counting in the death toll; DNA confirmations are underway. Ramesh’s brother, Ajay, sat elsewhere on AI 171—and remains unaccounted for. Ramesh’s frantic voice echoes a desperate plea: “I can’t find him… please help”
Seat 11A: A Seat with Destiny?
Emerging theories suggest being seated in an emergency exit row may have saved Ramesh’s life. A last-minute seat change to 11A, just steps from that escape hatch, may have been providential
Seat location has occasionally become the focus of aviation survival myths, but rarely with such stark outcome.
Miracles in the Midst of Mayhem
Ramesh joins a haunting-but-inspiring list of sole survivors, those who walked away when others could not:
- Cecelia Crocker (then Cecelia Cichan), sole survivor of Northwest Flight 255 (1987), laying amid bodies on a Detroit highway.
- George Lamson Jr., the only one to escape Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 (1985).
- Bahia Bakari, age 12, who clung to debris for nine hours after Yemenia Flight 626 plunged into the Indian Ocean in 2009.
- Jim Polehinke, who survived a 2006 crash near Lexington, Kentucky.
What Makes a Miracle?
Survival in these tragedies hinges on a blend of:
- Physics & Placement: Proximity to exit row, angle of impact, structural integrity.
- Moments of Instinct: Split-second decisions – like Ramesh’s decision to run.
- Chance & Fate: Last-minute seat changes, who’s in rows, what happens in that critical instant.
- For Ramesh, the cabin’s collapse spared the hatch above him – offering a gateway others didn’t have.
Related Story: https://thedailypulse.in/2025/06/12/air-india-flight-ai-171-crashes-moments-after-take-off-from-ahmedabad-242-onboard/
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