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By Kate Nalepinski
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An Air India crash in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12 has added a tragic chapter to aviation history. The flight, en route to the United Kingdom, was departing from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport when it crashed during takeoff.
Air India confirmed that the flight was involved in "an accident today after take-off," adding that 242 passengers and crew members were on board.
Local media outlets indicate that there is one survivor, a 40-year-old British national named Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.
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This rare occurrence, where a single person walks away from a large-scale aviation disaster, has happened before but remains statistically extraordinary.
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Ahmedabad Air India Plane Crash: What We Know
Flight AI171 was bound for London Gatwick Airport. But the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner collided with a medical college dorm of BJ Medical College Civil Hospital, in the suburb of the Indian city of Ahmedabad, and erupted into flames.
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik told the Associated Press that "some locals would have also died" since the plane hit the residential area.
At least five medical students were killed and 50 were injured, according to the Federation of All India Medical Association.
On board were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals, according to Air India.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the crash was "heartbreaking beyond words."
Cause of the Crash Remains Unknown
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but Air India referred to it as an accident.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said he was "shocked and devastated" by the crash.
"We are on highest alert. I am personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action," the minister wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"Rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site. My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families," he said.
Air India's last major crash was in 2020, according to The New York Times, when a passenger plane from its subsidiary Air India Express skidded on a runway, causing 17 deaths in India.
Who Was the Sole Survivor?
The Hindustan Times and Sky News identified the survivor of the crash as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national.
The man, who was in seat 11A on the aircraft, is now receiving treatment in a hospital. Videos appear to show him walking away from the scene of the incident.
List of Plane Crashes with One Survivor
According to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the overall survival rate in aircraft accidents from 1983 to 2000 was 95 percent. But sole survivorship in catastrophic crashes remains an anomaly.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh joins a small group of individuals who have survived air disasters alone:
- Juliane Koepcke, age 17, survived the 1971 LANSA Flight 508 crash in the Amazon after falling 10,000 feet still strapped to her seat. She walked for 11 days in search of help.
- Vesna Vulović, a flight attendant, lived through a midair explosion on JAT Flight 367 in 1972. She holds the Guinness World Record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute—over 33,000 feet. She died in December 2016.
- Cecelia Cichan, age 4, was the only survivor of Northwest Airlines Flight 255, which crashed in Michigan in August 1987. She was found buried in the wreckage and required extensive treatment for burns and fractures. Her parents, brother, and 151 others on board were killed, plus two people on the ground, per the FAA.
- Bahia Bakari, a 12-year-old girl, floated for several hours in the Indian Ocean after Yemenia Flight 626 crashed off the coast of the southern African country of Comoros in June 2009. She had no life jacket and limited swimming ability.
- Ruben van Assouw, a 9-year-old Dutch boy, survived the May 2010 crash of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 bound to Libya, which killed 103 people, including his parents.
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The causes of these crashes varied from pilot error and mechanical failure to weather-related incidents and sabotage, but all left just one person alive among many fatalities.
The Ahmedabad crash will now join these rare and harrowing cases, as investigators work to determine how one life was spared amid overwhelming tragedy.
Update 6/12/25, 1:36 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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