iscover
One survivor has been confirmed from Thursday’s fatal Air India crash which killed more than 240 people.
Viswashkumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, is believed to have escaped through an emergency exit after the 787-8 Dreamliner, VT-ANB, crashed shortly after take-off in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. The plane had been operating flight AI171 to London Gatwick.
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The crash, in which 241 people on board are confirmed dead with at least 24 more deaths reported on the ground, is the first fatal accident involving a 787 Dreamliner of any variant. The 11.5-year-old plane was delivered in 2014 according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, and was one of 34 in the Air India fleet.
1,148 Boeing 787s are currently in use around the world, with both Qantas and Jetstar using the aircraft in Australia: Qantas flies 14 787-9s, while Jetstar has 11 787-8s. Air New Zealand also operates the aircraft type, with 14 787-9s.
“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran,” Ramesh told the Hindustan Times from his hospital bed.
“There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
In a statement on social media, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said there were 242 people on board AI171 when it crashed, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Brits, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
“This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India, and our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones,” he said.
“We are actively working with the authorities on all emergency response efforts. A special team of caregivers from Air India is on their way to Ahmedabad to provide additional support.
“Please know that we will continue to share accurate and timely information as soon as we can, but anything we report must be accurate and not speculative. We owe that to everyone involved. For now, our teams are working around the clock to support passengers, crew and their families, as well as investigators.”
Message from Campbell Wilson, MD & CEO, Air India. pic.twitter.com/19MiwtkwAI
— Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025
While concerns have been raised about possible mechanical issues given the 787’s troubled history, including a grounding in 2013 due to onboard battery issues and accusations by a whistleblower last year of Boeing taking shortcuts on the plane’s construction, experts have been skeptical of a mechanical issue being at fault.
According to Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and FAA investigator, it is as yet too early to tell what happened.
“I don’t think this is a manufacturing or production issue,” he said, as reported by CNBC.
Guzzetti has noted, however, that the plane’s landing gear did not appear to have been raised in video taken shortly before the crash, telling Bloomberg that he would be interested to see the position of the flaps, as they may have been aligned incorrectly.
“You don’t see any smoke or fire or engines burping or anything like that. You don’t see any structural failure occurring. It just appears the airplane was unable to climb once it got off the runway,” he said.
Another expert, Bob Mann of RW Mann, said the aircraft did not appear to have sufficient thrust on its take-off roll, saying the plane could have been incorrectly configured prior to departure.
“If the weight is high compared to the actual number, you end up with a very aggressive takeoff,” he told Bloomberg.
“If the weight is low compared to the actual, you end up with not enough commanded power.”
Boeing currently has orders for 900 more Dreamliners, including 12 787-9s from Qantas; Air India has 20 787s on order with options for another 24.
