On Friday, an emotional reassurance was offered by the Supreme Court to the 91-year-old father of late Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the Pilot-in-Command of the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner which crashed in Ahmedabad in June this year, killing 260 people. After hearing his petition for an independent probe, the top court told him not to bear the burden of blame for the tragedy.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also made it clear that no one believed the pilot was responsible for the crash.
“You should not carry this burden that your son is being blamed. Nobody can blame him for anything,” Justice Surya Kant said during the hearing to Pushkar Sabharwal.
Justice Bagchi echoed that the investigation thus far had only recorded what transpired in terms of communication between pilots and did not fix responsibility.
Fresh plea seeks independent investigation
The father, represented by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, submitted that only a preliminary inquiry was conducted under Rule 9 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules. He urged the court to order a full, independent probe under Rule 11, monitored by a retired Supreme Court judge, citing potential procedural gaps in the current investigation.
He also mentioned a report in The Wall Street Journal as support for pilot error, citing unnamed Indian sources. To that Justice Bagchi responded, “Then your suit should have been against the Wall Street Journal. The insinuation in the press requires an appropriate forum and not a writ petition.”
The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre, the DGCA, and the AAIB while it seeks responses from the respondents. The hearing in this matter will be next held on November 10.
Air India Crash: What Happened?
On June 12, 2025, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on Air India Flight 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed only 32 seconds after it had taken off. This aircraft crashed into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College and killed 260 people, including nearly all onboard and 19 people on the ground.
The preliminary report issued by the AAIB cited that both engines lost thrust after the fuel control switches moved from RUN to CUTOFF for reasons inexplicable. No cause for the movement of the switches was identified, and the crash remains under investigation.
It was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft’s commercial debut in 2011 and the deadliest aviation disaster of the 2020s.
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Sofia Babu Chacko is a journalist with over five years of experience covering Indian politics, crime, human rights, gender issues, and stories about marginalized communities. She believes that every voice matters, and journalism has a vital role to play in amplifying those voices. Sofia is committed to creating impact and shedding light on stories that truly matter. Beyond her work in the newsroom, she is also a music enthusiast who enjoys singing.
