The casualty count of the Air India aircraft disaster, both aboard and on the ground, reached 279 individuals. The aircraft was transporting 242 passengers and crew members, of which 241 perished at the location, and merely one person evaded death.
The tally of fatalities could have been significantly higher if not for the pilot’s final attempt to prevent a far greater calamity. Reportedly, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a seasoned aviator with over 8,200 flight hours, made an instantaneous choice to steer clear of the Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, situated just beyond 5km from Ahmedabad airport.
The healthcare facility is said to have more than 3,000 beds, so had the plane crashed there, the human toll could have been substantially worse than what actually transpired.
Emergency responders at the site of the disaster/ SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty ImagesThe only survivor of the crash, 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national, is currently narrating his experience from a hospital bed.
Nevertheless, many find it difficult to accept that he managed to escape the aircraft so effortlessly. Some even claimed that “the more he narrates, the more questionable it seems.”
Visuals of the incident reveal Ramesh simply walking away from the site of the crash.
In an interview with the media, he stated that he was able to unfasten his seatbelt and pushed through an opening using his leg. According to him, the emergency exit was already compromised.
“My seat was damaged, the door was broken. I noticed an opening, so I simply got out,” he declared, as reported by the Daily Mail.
A reenactment of the flight illustrates potential ways he evaded death.
Ramesh, originally from India, has been residing in Britain since 2003.
He was journeying to Britain from India for a family visit along with his brother who lost his life in the crash.
Ramesh, who incurred no severe injuries but just bruises, was visited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who extended his best wishes.
Due to the intense flames and resulting burns, medical personnel are having difficulty identifying the casualties from flight AI171.
A recent video from the Air India disaster site in Ahmedabad has surfaced, showcasing Vishwas, the lone survivor in the tragedy, walking away from the wreckage.
🚨 Meet Aryan Asari, the boy who recorded the viral video of the Air India Flight 171 crash on June 12.
He said “I came here on June 12, and saw the plane flying very low, so I started recording to show my friends”
“I thought it was going to land because the airport was close.”… pic.twitter.com/O6YtSM782c
— Times Algebra (@TimesAlgebraIND) June 15, 2025
The New York Times reports that preliminary investigations indicated the “temperatures at the crash site had soared to 1,500 degrees Celsius, or 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit.”
The director of the Gandhinagar Forensic Science Laboratory, HP Sanghvi, elucidated that “These extreme temperatures impact the DNA present in various body parts.
“The entire process—from gathering DNA samples from victims and their kin to the final matching—is ongoing 24/7,” he stated.
While some question the truthfulness of Ramesh’s account, the majority are convinced of his good fortune and hope for his complete recovery.
