The final moments of the pilot of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner involved in a tragic crash that resulted in the deaths of 260 individuals have been disclosed.
For those connected to the victims, the wait for explanations surrounding the crash’s cause has been arduous.
Nonetheless, increasing details are surfacing through the comprehensive investigation into the Air India disaster.
Air India Flight AI171, headed for London Gatwick, crashed within 30 seconds of taking off from Ahmedabad airport in western India.
With 242 passengers on board, the crash brought grief to numerous families.
According to Air India, among those on board were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national, and seven Portuguese nationals.
Out of everyone on the plane, 241 perished, leaving 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh as the only survivor.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India released a preliminary report on July 11 regarding the crash.
The AAIB discovered that the fuel control switches on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had been altered, leading to the engines being deprived of fuel.
There were also reports of a disagreement between the pilot and co-pilot over the fuel switches heard in the cockpit conversation.
The pilot, identified as Sumeet Sabharwal, was questioned, and according to The Sun, cockpit recordings captured the co-pilot asking moments before the crash: “Why did you cut off?”
Sabharwal responded calmly, saying: “I didn’t.”
The report did not attribute blame for flipping the switches, leaving it open to speculation whether Sabharwal was responsible for the accident.
A conversation he had before flying has been described as ominous.
His security guard at his Mumbai apartment complex recalled their brief exchange, unaware of the impending tragedy.
The 56-year-old pilot reportedly told guard Sunil Lokhande, “Please, take care of papa. I will be back soon,” as reported by The Telegraph.
Lokhande, who guarded Sabharwal’s residence in Jal Vayu Vihar, Mumbai, reflected on what he believes was the pilot’s final farewell.
He recounted to The Telegraph: “I can’t forget that last moment, when he ran his hand through his hair, like he always did, and said, ‘How are you Mr Lokhande. Please, take care of papa, and I will be back soon.’
“He smiled and went away. You’d never guess he carried any sadness inside.”
Investigators suggest the pilot might have manually set both guarded fuel switches to the ‘cut-off’ position.
According to US investigators, the switches were flipped one second apart, with an attempted restart of the engines 10 seconds later.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner then crashed into a hotel accommodating medical students only 30 seconds afterwards.
Three days before the crash, Sabharwal’s former coworker Neil Pais mentioned to The Telegraph that Sabharwal had been contemplating early retirement to care for his aging father.
He shared: “He was actually considering early retirement in the next couple of years.
“His father is very old, and he was going to look after him full time. That was the plan.”
As part of the investigation, Sabharwal’s mental health is being reviewed, with reports indicating he had been affected by his mother’s death in 2022, and had separated from his wife, relocating from Dehli to Mumbai to be near his father.