Air India sole survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh says plane crash ‘took all my happiness’
The British man who was the sole survivor of the devastating Air India plane crash that killed 241 people described his survival as a “miracle” but revealed his brother’s death in the same crash “took all my happiness away”.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 39, from Leicester, spoke nearly four months after the tragedy in Ahmedabad, India.
He said the incident left him with constant flashbacks.
He said the loss of his brother Ajay meant his family “lost everything”.
Mr Ramesh finds discussing the accident “very painful” and counselors say he has not yet spoken to his immediate family about the ordeal.
The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on June 12, killing everyone on board except Mr. Ramesh.
Approximately 169 Indian passengers and 52 British citizens lost their lives.
This was one of the deadliest plane crashes on record in terms of the number of British deaths.
19 more people on the ground died and 67 people were seriously injured.
Mr Ramesh’s advisers Sanjiv Patel and Radd Seiger criticized the care he has received since the accident, saying he had been treated like “a name in a spreadsheet”.
They called on the airline’s chief executive, Campbell Wilson, to meet them so he could get an update on Mr Ramesh’s current situation, claiming he had “ignored repeated written requests”.
Air India said in a statement that it had been offered a meeting with senior leaders of the airline’s parent Tata Group and that care for the families of the crash victims, including Mr Ramesh, “remains our absolute priority”.
It appears that a provisional payment was accepted and transferred to Mr. Ramesh.
In the preliminary report prepared by the Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau regarding the incident, it was revealed that both fuel switches of the aircraft were turned to the “cut off” position “immediately” after takeoff and the fuel supply to the engine was stopped.
There were questions about whether the accident was intentional or not.
Mr Ramesh said the incident and the loss of his brother had “completely devastated my family”.
“I cannot make a statement about my brother,” he said.
“I lost everything, my happiness. God gave me life but took away all my happiness and my family.
“This situation has completely devastated my family… this is very difficult for me and my family.”
Mr Ramesh said remembering the accident was still too painful to talk about and he did not dare talk about what his first memory was after the incident.
In a statement prepared with the help of advisors after the meeting, he said he was “broken” and was kept awake at night by “flashbacks”.
He said: “I keep having flashbacks, just staying awake, sleeping maybe three to four hours.
“Yes, it is a miracle that I survived, but I lost everything, I lost my brother, I am broken.”
Mr. Ramesh’s statement about his brother continued: “We were all happy, enjoying life.
“My brother was my strength, he was my everything.
“What about now? We’re hurt, I don’t want to talk to anyone.”
During the interview, Mr. Ramesh said he was grateful for his family’s support but that his mother, father and younger brother “completely collapsed” after the accident.
Mr. Ramesh wore a New York Yankees hat to the interview in memory of Ajay, who often wore the same hat, including while flying.
“My uncle, my cousin, my friends, Sanjiv, Radd – they supported me very well – they are always here,” he said.
“I don’t talk to my family much because I’m mentally and physically alone in my room.
“I don’t like to talk much. I just sit on my bed and think.”
“I lost my 35-year-old brother; I struggle every day.”
Mr Patel, one of Mr Ramesh’s advisers, said Air India had failed to fulfill its promise to treat the crash victims as “family”.
He said: “On the day of the accident, after the initial shock, I felt sick at the thought of the trauma experienced in so many families.
“Since then, I have done my best to help everyone who reaches out to me.
“Air India promised to treat them like family, but four months later, I can say they have failed.”
Mr Patel continued: “Families were made to suffer but were treated like a name on a spreadsheet, where is the personal care?
“People have been patient, but it’s been four months and the frustration is growing.
“I would like to believe that Air India executives have delivered on their promises by providing unrestricted support to the victims of this devastating tragedy and perhaps have not realized how much they have failed to deliver.
“Ignoring repeated written requests, this is a public appeal on behalf of Vishwash and his family, and the wider community, to CEO Campbell Wilson to come and meet us so that he can be directly informed of the challenges and failures and be given the chance to put things right.”
Fellow consultant and spokesman Mr. Seiger said: “Having advised companies like Air India in the past, you only get one chance to do the right thing after disasters like this.
“We’re sitting next to the sole survivor of this massive airline crash, and from what I understand, he’s being treated like a number on a spreadsheet.
“Not only has his life been turned upside down, but so have his entire family’s lives, and Air India’s CEO said he promised full and unrestricted support to the victims after the crash.
“The fact that those responsible for the crash didn’t come forward and do the right thing is something you can’t forgive, and neither can we.”
In a statement issued in response to the allegations made by Mr Ramesh’s advisors, Air India said: “We are deeply conscious of our responsibility to provide support to Mr Ramesh through an unimaginable period.
“Caring for him, and indeed all the families affected by the tragedy, remains our absolute priority.
“Senior leaders of the Tata Group continue to visit the families to express their deepest condolences.
“A proposal has been made to Mr. Ramesh’s representatives to hold such a meeting, we will continue to reach out to them and are very hopeful of receiving a positive response.
“We are acutely aware that this remains an incredibly difficult time for everyone affected and we continue to offer whatever support, compassion and care we can under the circumstances.”
