Air India Crash: Pilot’s Father Moves Supreme Court, Seeks Judicial Probe Alleging ‘Misplaced Blame’
The 91-year-old father of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the pilot of the ill-fated Air India flight AI171 that crashed in Ahmedabad killing all 260 people on board, has approached the Supreme Court seeking a judicially monitored inquiry into the accident. The petition alleges a “lack of credibility and transparency” in the ongoing probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and claims a narrative of “pilot culpability” has compromised the investigation.Filed jointly by Pushkaraj Sabharwal and the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), the writ petition demands the constitution of a Court Monitored Committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and independent aviation experts.
It requests that all prior investigations, including the AAIB’s preliminary report dated July 12, be closed and that all evidence be transferred to this new committee to ensure a fair and technically robust probe.The petition states the petitioners are “gravely aggrieved” by the current investigation, highlighting its alleged failure to investigate potential “design-level faults” of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
It strongly contests the focus on the pilots, arguing that by “fostering a narrative of pilot culpability, the AAIB has compromised the independence, objectivity, and integrity of the investigation.”This legal move follows an earlier letter from Mr. Sabharwal to the Civil Aviation Secretary, where he refuted “speculation” and “innuendos” that his son was under psychological pressure and contemplating suicide, calling them an attack on Captain Sabharwal’s reputation.
He pointed out that his son was a highly experienced pilot with over 15,000 flying hours and an impeccable safety record over 25 years.The controversy stems from the AAIB’s preliminary report, which noted that the fuel supply to both engines was cut off within a second of each other shortly after takeoff. The report also mentioned cockpit voice recordings where one pilot is heard asking the other why he cut off the fuel, to which the other pilot replied that he had not. While the AAIB urged against premature conclusions, the family believes selective leaks have unfairly tarnished the pilot’s name.
