What began as a routine return from a business trip turned into a nightmare in the sky. Amid the chaos and flames, one man survived — his first words were a desperate plea for the brother he could no longer see.
Then came the crash.
Viswash, seated in 11A near the emergency exit, lived through what investigators now call a catastrophic crash. His brother Ajay, just across the aisle in seat 11J, did not as flames consumed the cabin. Viswash, bloodied and disoriented, was pulled from the wreckage.
Now in an Indian hospital, Viswash keeps repeating one haunting plea: “Find Ajay, you must find Ajay.”
Back in Leicester, their family is caught between disbelief and grief. Their mother, too distraught to speak, remains surrounded by relatives offering comfort. Their youngest brother, Nayankumar, described the surreal moment they received the call.
“It’s a miracle at least one of them survived,” he stated. “He said his plane had crashed and he couldn’t find anyone. We couldn’t believe it. There was blood running down his face.”
Air India confirmed the grim reality late Thursday night: of the 242 people aboard flight AI171, only one survived. That sole survivor was Viswash. Ajaykumar was not among them.
For hours, the family clung to hope. They believed Ajay might have been rushed to a different hospital, his name missed in the confusion.
Nayankumar had said earlier that they were “so confused” but still hoped his brother had somehow made it out alive. When asked how the family was coping with the ordeal — one brother surviving while another was lost — Nayankumar motioned to their mother, Manibai Ramesh. She was too overwhelmed to speak, her sobs filling the silence.
Ajaykumar and Viswash had traveled to India on business tied to their family’s ventures. Viswash had previously served as director of RMV Fashion, a Leicester-based textile company that closed in 2022.
The first signs of life came when Viswash called home. He told relatives he had fled the burning aircraft and was safe, though injured. The call brought a wave of relief — but also deepened the fear for Ajay, who never got in touch.
We previously reported that the devastating tragedy unfolded in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon, June 12, 2025, when Air India Flight AI-171 crashed shortly after takeoff, leaving the nation in shock and sorrow. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, carrying 242 passengers and crew members, was en route to London Gatwick when it suddenly encountered trouble.
Commanding the aircraft was Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who issued an urgent Mayday call — the most severe emergency signal in aviation — moments before all contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) was lost.
The distress call, which is internationally recognized and must be repeated three times for clarity and priority handling — “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” — marked the pilot’s final communication before the plane vanished from radar. Despite repeated efforts from ATC to reconnect, there was no further response from the cockpit, as confirmed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
At approximately 1:39 p.m. IST, the aircraft crashed into the Meghani Nagar neighborhood, a residential area with a population of five million just outside the airport’s perimeter. The incident occurred just five minutes after takeoff.
The plane crash site erupted in flames and was soon engulfed in thick, black smoke that towered over the city skyline. Emergency response teams rushed to the scene immediately, launching a rescue operation amid the wreckage
The term “Mayday” itself has a poignant origin. Coined in the early 1920s by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a radio officer at London’s Croydon Airport, it is derived from the French phrase “m’aider,” which means “help me.”
Alongside the Morse code “SOS” signal, the International Radiotelegraph Convention adopted the term as the standard voice distress call for both aircraft and vessels around the world by 1927.
Aviation professionals rely on Mayday calls to signal the most critical emergencies in flight, including engine failures, structural malfunctions, fires, severe weather conditions, or serious medical incidents onboard. Mayday is different from less severe distress calls like “Pan-pan,” which address technical problems that don’t immediately endanger lives.
When a pilot issues a Mayday call, they typically provide key details, including the aircraft’s identification, location, nature of the emergency, number of people on board, remaining fuel, and the type of assistance required.
This structured format enables air traffic controllers and emergency responders to act swiftly and effectively. Once a Mayday call is received, all non-urgent radio communications are halted, giving the distressed aircraft absolute priority.
ATC then coordinates with emergency services, other aircraft, and nearby airports to provide full support. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also advises pilots to provide specific details such as weather conditions, altitude, and flight intentions to enhance the effectiveness of rescue efforts.
In the case of the recent Ahmedabad crash, the crew’s swift and accurate Mayday call was a vital step in following emergency protocols.
Though the outcome was tragic, with no known survivors, the transmission offered valuable information for investigators and emergency services, highlighting the professionalism of the flight crew even in the most perilous moments.
Firefighters worked tirelessly to extinguish the flames engulfing the wreckage of Air India Flight AI-171, which had been fully fueled shortly before its takeoff and catastrophic crash. Water was also sprayed on surrounding multistory buildings, one of which bore the plane’s tail cone still lodged near its rooftop, stabilizer fins visibly damaged.
Addressing the tragedy, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his heartbreak in a public statement, calling the scenes from the crash “devastating.”
According to Indian television news channels, the aircraft had struck the dining hall of a medical college hostel. Vice President of the Federation of All India Medical Association, Divyansh Singh, reported that at least five students from the medical college were killed on the ground and 50 others were injured, with some in critical condition, and many “feared buried in the debris.”
In response to the disaster, medical assistance and relief operations were underway, with help from the Indian Army, which deployed teams to help clear debris and treat the injured.
Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran emphasized the airline’s commitment to assisting all affected individuals and their families. He noted that emergency centers and support teams had already been activated to ensure the bereaved received timely information and care.
