Air India crash pilot’s father seeks court-led investigation

Drawing a stark parallel with the Boeing 737 MAX disasters, where safety flaws were downplayed until a US Congressional inquiry forced the truth out, the father of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, one of the two pilots killed in the Air India Flight AI171 crash, has accused Indian authorities of shielding manufacturers while scapegoating pilots. He has demanded a court-style investigation under Rule 12 of the Aircraft Rules.

In a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), 91-year-old Pushkaraj Sabharwal said the current exercise was confined to a preliminary inquiry under Rule 9 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017. He stressed that only Rule 12 empowers the government to order a court-style investigation with independent assessors — a process he described as essential to restoring credibility.

“The absence of a formal inquiry conducted in accordance with Rule 12, coupled with the selective information being provided to the media, is very disturbing and detrimental to me. It affects my fundamental rights, including the right to reputation of my deceased son,” he wrote.

The preliminary report, released in the early hours of July 13, cleared both Boeing and engine maker GE of technical lapses. It stated that the fuel switches of both engines had moved to the “off” position after takeoff. The report cited a cockpit exchange in which co-pilot Clive Kunder asked Captain Sabharwal why he had moved the switches, to which he replied that he had not. The report was followed by media speculation blaming the pilots.

Sabharwal dismissed such speculation, including claims of depression linked to a 15-year-old divorce and his mother’s death three years ago, as unfounded. He noted that following his mother’s passing, Captain Sabharwal had operated more than 100 flights without incident. In his 25 years of flying, he emphasised, his son had never been involved in a single mishap.

He further alleged that cockpit voice recordings had been “selectively released into the public domain” and accused the AAIB of failing in its primary duty.

“The preliminary report, instead of setting out ‘what happened’ or the bare facts of the crash, resorts to insinuations on the one hand while offering copious clean chits to the manufacturers on the other,” he wrote.

Calling for transparency, Sabharwal sought the constitution of an independent panel comprising a retired Supreme Court judge, aeronautical and engineering experts and a representative of Air India’s pilots’ body. He said the investigation must go beyond pilot conduct to examine design, manufacturing, maintenance and environmental factors.

He also urged the ministry to issue a clarification that the Rule 9 preliminary report was not intended to fix blame but only to identify preventive measures.

“That no comments have been made in the report with regard to the pilot Captain Sabharwal, i.e. my son, and that any reports in the media are merely speculation,” he wrote.

The June 12 crash of the Boeing 787-8 operating the Ahmedabad-London Gatwick service killed 241 of the 242 people onboard and 19 on the ground.

The letter noted that Captain Sabharwal had logged over 15,600 flying hours, including 8,596 on the Boeing 787, and was empanelled as a DGCA-approved trainer.

Warning against repeating past mistakes, Sabharwal reminded authorities that “it took the second fatal crash of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX for the true facts to emerge”, after flaws were initially concealed until US lawmakers intervened. Boeing has since reached a $1.1 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice.