Thirty seconds after take‑off, there was a loud explosion — Sole Survivor Speaks Out

Thirty seconds after take‑off, there was a loud explosion — Sole Survivor Speaks Out On June 12, 2025, at 1:38 PM IST, Air India Flight AI171—a Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner—departed Ahmedabad Airport bound for London Gatwick with 242 people onboard. Mere seconds into its climb, the aircraft issued a mayday before colliding with a residential area in Meghani Nagar. The crash devastated a doctors’ hostel at B.J. Medical College, igniting a massive blaze. Authorities have so far recovered over 200 bodies from both the aircraft and the impacted buildings . The Unthinkable: A Survivor In a heartbreaking twist amid the carnage, a sole survivor emerged from the inferno: 40‑year‑old Vishwash “Ramesh” Kumar, a British‑Indian in seat 11A . In his first interview with Hindustan Times, he described the harrowing experience: “Thirty seconds after take off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.” Ramesh suffered multiple bruises around his chest,...