New Delhi: The Supreme Court assured the father of the Air India Dreamliner pilot who died in the Ahmedabad crash that no fault could be placed on his son, as it issued notices to the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday. The remarks came during the hearing of a petition filed by 91-year-old Pushkaraj Sabharwal, whose son, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, was the pilot-in-command of the Boeing 787 that went down, killing 260 people.
The Federation of Indian Pilots has also approached the court with a similar plea seeking a judicial inquiry into the disaster. During the hearing, Justice Surya Kant addressed the elderly father directly, calling the crash “extremely unfortunate” and urging him not to shoulder the pain of believing that his son was being held responsible.
The petitions were filed after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released its preliminary findings in July. According to the report, fuel supply to both engines was abruptly cut shortly after takeoff when the aircraft’s fuel control switches were moved to the cutoff position one after the other. Although the switches were restored within about ten seconds, the engines had already lost power and failed to reignite, resulting in the fatal crash.
The court’s notice signals the beginning of a closer examination of whether further investigation is needed beyond the ongoing aviation probe.
