Everyone thinks Viswashkumar Ramesh is the luckiest person on Earth. Except him. The 39-year-old is the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash that killed 241 people in June. “It’s painful. I’m finding myself very difficult, like mentally, physically, and also my family is suffering from mentally completely,” Ramesh said.
In an Australian exclusive, the British man has given an interview to Nine’s 60 Minutes, which will air this Sunday night. He was in seat 11A when the flight took off from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, bound for London. But just 32 seconds later, the Boeing 787 hit the ground and exploded into a massive fireball in the middle of a busy neighborhood.
To have walked away from the explosion is nothing short of a miracle. Nearly five months on, Ramesh is still suffering, limping to his chair to sit down and talk about it. “Physically, still in pain,” he said. “My body like knee, back, shoulder and left-hand side is burning in my hand.”
The Aftermath of Survival
Ramesh’s younger brother, Ajay, was also on the plane and died instantly on impact. “My mother, always sitting in front of my brother picture, is just crying and thinking about my brother.” Somehow, Ramesh managed to kick open the emergency exit and miraculously walk free from the wreckage. “The flashback has come to my face, front of my eye,” he said. “It is painful. It is painful to speak about that.”
The sole survivor is being supported by his family’s adviser, Sanjiv Patel, and a family-appointed spokesman, Radd Seiger. They’ve taken the difficult step of speaking publicly because Ramesh is in desperate need of help and feels abandoned by Air India. “The senior executives of Air India made a public announcement right at the beginning [saying] we will look after those families who are victims,” Patel said. “But in practice, the machinery has been unknown faces, emails, papers being put in front of people to sign, no understanding of what that means.”
A Life Altered
Before the crash, Ramesh was helping his brother Ajay in the family’s fishing business in Diu, a small town on India’s west coast. He was on his way home to England, where he’s lived for many years, when disaster struck. Last month, he finally got back on a plane to make the brave return journey to his wife and young son in Leicester. He’s unable to work and is seeking physical and mental healthcare. “I’m staying alone in my room,” Ramesh said. “I’m not spending time with my family, like my wife and son.”
Along with others affected by this disaster, the Ramesh family has no answers about what went wrong on the doomed Dreamliner. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released an interim report one month after the crash. It revealed the plane’s fuel supply switches were cut off shortly after take-off, and then turned back on within seconds. But exactly who or what is to blame for the crash is yet to be formally declared.
Seeking Justice and Support
Ramesh wants to meet with Air India’s chief executive, Campbell Wilson, face to face, to plead for help. Instead, Air India has offered a meeting with executives from the Tata Group, which owns the airline. “Sanjiv and I have done our best to try and resolve this privately without having to ask for your help,” Seiger said. “This isn’t going to happen or via email or via lawyers. The chief executive has to come and meet with us so that he can help us, help him.”
Air India has given Ramesh an interim payment of £21,500 – just over $43,000 – the same handout offered to every family who lost a loved one on flight 171. But Seiger said, for him and his family, that’s nowhere near enough.
“They don’t want to war with Air India, they just want help. And in this case, there’s an immediate, urgent need for intensive psychiatric treatment, as you can probably tell. They need to arrange that, and they need to pay for that,” Seiger said.
In a statement, Air India said it was conscious of its responsibility to provide Ramesh with support. “We are keenly aware this continues to be an incredibly difficult time for all affected and continue to offer the support, compassion, and care we can in the circumstances.”
Along with dozens of other affected families, Ramesh has engaged lawyers to help navigate what is sure to be a long road ahead. “I need help. Come forward and meet,” he said. “To Air India, listen my problem.”
