Finding My Brother: A Survivor’s Tale from the AI‑171 Crash

When the news broke that Air India Flight AI‑171 had gone down, my mind went straight to my own family. My brother, a fresh‑face pilot, was on that very aircraft. I couldn’t sit still; the need to know, to see, to hold on to any fragment of reality became an ache that refused to fade.

By some twist of fate – or perhaps sheer luck – I found myself in the company of the sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. He was still shaking, his eyes darting between the white‑washed walls of the makeshift triage area and the distant horizon where the wreckage smoldered.

"I don’t even remember how I got out of the plane," he whispered, voice cracking. "One moment I was sitting, the next I’m on the ground, coughing… and everything is dark." The words stumbled out, uneven, as if he were trying to piece together a puzzle that kept shifting.

We sat together for about an hour – a stretch that felt both endless and too brief. He told me about the deafening roar just before the impact, the sudden lurch, the split‑second flash of fire. "It was like the whole world flipped upside down," he said, chuckling nervously, a sound that didn’t quite fit the gravity of the moment.

Amid the chaos, his thoughts were anchored to his brother. "I keep hearing his name. I keep thinking he’s still on the plane, that I’ll see him walk out of the smoke," he confessed, eyes glossing over with tears. That raw, unfiltered worry reminded me how, even in the face of catastrophe, human beings cling to the familiar – names, faces, that one voice that feels like home.

Rescuers worked around the clock, but the reality was stark: only Vishwash walked away. The rest – passengers, crew, his own sibling – were gone. The survivor’s burden isn’t just about surviving; it’s about carrying the weight of those who didn’t make it.

When the interview ended, I could see the exhaustion settle deep in his bones. Yet, there was a flicker of determination. "I’ll keep looking, keep asking, keep hoping," he said, his voice steadier now. "If there’s any chance, any piece of evidence, I want it. For my brother, for everyone."

Walking away from that cramped room, the sky looked oddly clear, as if the world was trying to convince us that life goes on. But for Vishwash, and for countless families, the search for answers – for closure – is a road that stretches far beyond the crash site.