Air India Crash: Sole Survivor Bids Final Goodbye to Brother Lost Beside Him

Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the only person to walk away alive from the wreckage of the Air India Ahmedabad–London flight, laid his brother to rest on Wednesday, just days after they boarded the same aircraft together. With his face still wrapped in bandages and his body showing signs of trauma, he shouldered the coffin containing his brother Ajay’s charred remains in their hometown of Diu.

A Funeral Steeped in Grief and Unanswered Questions

The cremation ceremony was quiet. No media frenzy. No long speeches. Just raw silence. Vishwas walked barefoot behind the hearse van, flanked by grieving relatives and shell-shocked neighbors who had watched both brothers leave for the UK just a week ago.

Ajay’s body had been identified through a DNA test, officials at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad confirmed. It was handed over early Wednesday morning to the family. Vishwas received it barely 12 hours after being discharged himself from the hospital where he had been battling injuries—both visible and those you can’t really see.

This wasn’t supposed to be a final journey. The brothers had just been in Diu to spend time with family. A quick trip back home. A return flight to London. That was the plan.

But the skies had something else in mind.

One Brother Lives, Another Doesn’t: A Haunting Fate

Their seats were next to each other. Window and aisle. That’s what Vishwas remembered. He didn’t even get a chance to say anything when the plane jolted violently mid-air and started spiraling. The next thing he remembers was crawling out of the wreckage, dazed and bloodied, somewhere outside Ahmedabad. He had no idea how he survived.

Rescue workers were stunned. Most had expected the usual post-crash scene: no survivors. But there he was—alive, conscious, and mumbling his brother’s name.

Vishwas kept asking for Ajay even while being loaded into the ambulance. The hospital staff couldn’t give him any answers until the DNA test came back.

“I wish I had passed out. But I didn’t. I saw too much,” he told one of the attending doctors later that night.

Officials Still Piecing Together What Went Wrong

The Air India flight—operating under Boeing 777-300ER equipment—was en route to London Gatwick when it reportedly suffered engine failure shortly after takeoff. That led to an uncontrollable dive. Emergency crews were scrambled, but by the time they reached the crash site near a field in Mehsana, flames had swallowed most of the fuselage.

• 241 people on board died instantly, including 15 crew members

• 29 others on the ground, including 7 children, were also killed

• Only one person walked out alive

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a probe. Investigators from both India and the UK are involved, along with Boeing’s technical team and representatives from Rolls-Royce, whose engines powered the aircraft.

Survivorship Doesn’t Always Feel Like a Blessing

Vishwas hasn’t been able to sleep since that night. He reportedly refused painkillers in the hospital because he feared falling unconscious.

He has told close family members that he doesn’t know what to do with this second chance. “I keep thinking—why him and not me?” one relative recalled him whispering at the cremation.

At one point, while performing the final rituals, Vishwas paused and just stared at the ground for a long time. Priests had to gently remind him to finish the rites.

A Hometown Trying to Cope With Trauma

Diu, a coastal town known more for its beaches than for tragedy, hadn’t seen such heartbreak in years. The loss of Ajay—well-liked and cheerful—shook the tight-knit community.

Small stalls remained shut on Wednesday. Local schools declared a half-day. And as Vishwas and his family lit the pyre, the crowd stood back in silence, many with tears in their eyes.

Local officials visited the house later in the day to express condolences. No political speeches were made. Everyone seemed to agree: it wasn’t the time.

The Aftermath: Healing Might Take a Lifetime

What comes next for Vishwas is unclear. He’s a successful IT consultant based in Leicester, with two young children. His wife flew down immediately after hearing the news and has been by his side since. The family plans to stay in Diu for at least another week.

Here’s what we know so far from official records:

There’s no playbook for this kind of grief. No guide for how to mourn someone who was right beside you one moment and gone the next. Vishwas may be a survivor in the physical sense. But emotionally, he’s still trapped in that wreckage.