Webdesk: Preliminary findings from the black box recorder of the ill-fated Air India flight that crashed shortly after take-off have allegedly pointed to the aircraft’s captain as being responsible for the fatal incident.
According to US media reports citing American investigators, cockpit voice recordings reveal that Captain Sumit Sabrawal had manually cut off the fuel supply to both engines mid-flight.
As per the early analysis, the aircraft’s First Officer, Clive Kundra, questioned the senior captain immediately after take-off, asking why the fuel cut-off switches had been turned off. The first officer was initially confused and later visibly panicked, while Captain Sabrawal remained calm despite the unfolding emergency.
The cockpit conversation has raised serious questions, especially given the wide disparity in experience between the two pilots. Captain Sabrawal had logged over 15,638 flight hours, more than half of them on Boeing aircraft, while First Officer Kundra had just over 3,403 hours of flight time.
India’s aviation authorities had released an initial report last week, stating there was “confusion” in the cockpit but stopping short of assigning blame. That report mentioned that one pilot had asked about the fuel switches being turned off, and the other had denied intentionally cutting fuel supply. However, no conclusion was drawn at the time.
So far, there has been no official response to the new revelations from Boeing, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), or Air India’s management.
The Air India Boeing Dreamliner was en route from Ahmedabad to London when it crashed moments after take-off on June 12. Of the 242 people onboard, 241 were killed, including 53 British nationals. Only one passenger, a British-Indian national seated on 11A, survived the crash.
Tragically, the aircraft struck a medical college building on impact, killing 19 more people on the ground.
Captain Sumit Sabrawal, aged 56, had been with Air India since 1994 and was serving as a line training captain, responsible for mentoring junior pilots during live flights.
He was unmarried and due to retire in a few months. Just before the flight, he reportedly spoke to his father, promising to call again upon reaching London, a call that never came.
First Officer Clive Kundra, aged 32, had aspired to be a pilot since childhood and was due to be married in two months. His mother had worked as an Air India flight attendant. Captain Sabrawal’s father is a retired official from India’s civil aviation sector, and two of his nephews are also commercial pilots.
Air India has claimed that both pilots passed mandatory pre-flight drug and health screenings and showed no signs of illness or impairment prior to departure.
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