AHMEDABAD: The captain of the Air India aircraft that crashed in June this year is allegedly responsible for the disaster, according to preliminary findings based on black box recordings.
The passenger aircraft, en route from Ahmedabad to London, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all but one of the 260 people on board. Among the deceased was former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
According to reports from U.S. media citing preliminary analysis by American investigators, cockpit voice recordings reveal that Captain Sumit Sabrawal switched off the fuel supply to both engines during takeoff.
First Officer Clive Kunder, who was flying alongside the captain, reportedly questioned Sabrawal moments after takeoff, asking why he had set the switches to the cut-off position. The captain, despite the first officer’s visible panic and confusion, remained calm.
Sources say the first officer had logged around 3,403 flight hours, while Captain Sabrawal had over 15,638 flight hours, more than half of which were on Boeing aircraft.
Last week, Indian aviation authorities released a preliminary report indicating confusion in the cockpit but stopped short of assigning blame. The report mentioned that one pilot asked, “Why did you cut off the switches?” to which the other responded, “I didn’t cut the fuel.”
The investigation is still ongoing, and final conclusions are yet to be drawn. However, the initial analysis suggests possible human error at the highest level of command.
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