A recap of the Air India crash and an update on the sole survivor, Viswashkumar Ramesh
Air India flight 171 from Ahmedabad, India, to London, England, crashed into a building 32 seconds after take-off on Thursday, June 12. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner struck a doctors’ accommodation building at the Byramjee Jeejebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital, less than two kilometres away from the runway.
According to BBC reports, the Dreamliner had 230 passengers, 10 cabin crew, and two pilots on board. The crash led to an explosion, killing 241 people on board: everybody except Viswashkumar Ramesh. Of the dead passengers and crew, 169 were Indian nationals, 52 were British nationals, and one was a Canadian national. On the ground, there were 19 who died and 67 who were injured.
Al Jazeera reported the preliminary report done by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau deemed the aircraft “airworthy, with its Airworthiness Review Certificate valid until May 2026.” Moreover, routine maintenance was done with no dangerous goods found on board. However, the report said both engines were cut off shortly after takeoff.
New Delhi Television (NDTV) detailed, the switches for the engines were turned back on 10 seconds later, but “the engines had already flamed out, leading to the crash.” There is no verified or conclusive cause, only theories and speculation. The two main theories for the cause are pilot suicide or an electrical malfunction.
Nearly five months after the crash, on Nov. 7, India’s Supreme Court commented on the reports to date and the probable causes of the crash. Justice Surya Kant told Pushkaraj Sabharwal, the father of the pilot-in-command, no one could blame his son for the crash.
Al Jazeera recalled the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration advisory from December 2018, which reported “a potential flaw in the aircraft’s fuel-control switch system ─ highlighting the potential disengagement of the locking feature. NDTV further quoted aviation expert Richard Godfret, who said, “The dual engine shutdown to below idle was caused by water ingress to the Aft E/E Bay…the engine control systems automatically set both engines to idle as a protective measure.”
No matter the reason, the post-crash process has been a challenge for its sole survivor. The BBC reports Viswashkumar Ramesh as feeling like the luckiest man alive, but also suffering physically and mentally.
Ramesh was sitting in seat 11A, where he unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of the plane. He, however, suffers from pain in his leg, shoulder, knee and back, and has not been able to work or drive. He escaped, saying it was a miracle, but lost his younger brother Ajay, who was only a few seats away and Ramesh’s support over the last few years.
Since his return home, his advisers have said he has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and has been unable to speak to his wife or his four-year-old son. Ramesh also talked about his mother, who was not on the flight, but has been impacted by the loss of Ajay and the injuries of Viswashkumar. She has been sitting outside her door every day for the last four months, not speaking.