India’s Supreme Court has absolved the pilot of the ill-fated Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, India, from blame for the tragic incident. The London-bound Flight AI-171 plummeted shortly after take-off, resulting in the loss of 241 lives, including 52 British nationals. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor, described himself as incredibly fortunate to have survived but continues to endure physical and mental challenges.
The court reassured the grieving father of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the pilot of Flight AI-171, that his son was not responsible for the mishap. The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi emphasized that the official investigation did not attribute any fault to the pilot. Captain Sabharwal had been commended for skillfully diverting the aircraft away from a medical students’ hostel, preventing a more catastrophic outcome.
Amidst ongoing inquiries, the Supreme Court criticized a Wall Street Journal article that had implicated Sabharwal, characterizing it as biased and unfairly critical. Subsequently, the court has requested responses from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the central government in response to a petition filed by Sabharwal’s father, advocating for an impartial judicial investigation and questioning the adequacy of the current accident probe.
The petition argues that the failure to determine the true cause of the crash poses risks to future air passengers and raises concerns about constitutional rights. Initial findings from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau revealed that both fuel switches supplying the plane’s engines were inexplicably turned off just after reaching top speed, leading to the shutdown of both engines and the subsequent descent.
Captain Sabharwal, along with First Officer Clive Kunder, was in control of the flight at the time of the tragedy. The Supreme Court is scheduled to revisit the case on November 10, alongside other related legal submissions.
