Vishwash Kumar Ramesh: Sole Air India crash survivor is fearful of returning to United KingdomMadeline CoveThe NightlyMon, 15 September 2025 12:08PMCommentsComments
The only passenger to survive the Air India tragedy that killed 260 people may never return to the UK, terrified of ever stepping on a plane again.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, escaped the doomed Gatwick-bound Boeing 787 that crashed seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad in June, killing everyone else on board except him on June 12.
He managed to crawl from seat 11A and stagger free before the aircraft smashed into a medical hostel, also killing 19 people on the ground.
Mr Ramesh was rushed to the hospital with chest injuries and cuts to his face.
His wife, Hiral and four-year-old son immediately flew to India to be at his side while he underwent counselling. But they have since returned to Britain, leaving him behind as he continues to recover.
His family say the trauma has left him unable to fly.
“I think he will stay over there because he would be too frightened to get on a plane again,” his brother-in-law said, suggesting the Leicester businessman will not be joining his family at their home in the UK any time soon, The Sun reported.
The crash also claimed the life of his brother Ajay, 35, one of 241 passengers killed. Fifty-two of the victims were British.
The emotional toll on survivors’ families is deepening as they battle for answers. Families of other victims have accused both Indian authorities and the UK Foreign Office of abandoning them after their loved ones’ remains were reportedly “mixed up” or lost.
In a letter to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, relatives of Ashok Patel, 74, and his wife Shobhana, 71, as well as Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, and his husband Jamie, 45, demanded action.
“Silence and a severe lack of communication force us to bring this to your attention. We feel abandoned,” they wrote.
An interim report by India’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that the plane’s fuel-control switches were somehow moved to “cut off” moments after take-off — starving the engines.
One pilot can be heard asking the other why he had cut the fuel, to which he replied he had not.
Now, a new legal twist could shift the blame away from pilot error.
A US law firm representing victims’ families claims electrical failure caused by a water leak may have doomed the flight.
Mike Andrews of Beasley Allen pointed to warnings from the US Federal Aviation Administration months earlier about improperly installed waterline couplings on 787s that could cause water to seep into electronics bays.
He said Mr Ramesh had described the cabin lights flickering before the crash, a possible sign of electrical trouble.
Grieving families have launched High Court action to compel Air India to release full maintenance logs and the pilots’ medical and training records.
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