Investigators probing the doomed Air India flight that killed 260 people are examining the medical records of the pilot amid claims that he suffered from mental health issues.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, reportedly considered leaving the airline to look after his elderly father in Mumbai following the death of his mother in 2022.
Mr Sabharwal, who had 15,000 hours of flying experience and was employed by Air India since 1994, undertook a Class I medical exam in September last year.
His records have been handed to Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) a month after Air India Flight AI171 crashed moments into its nine-hour journey from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick Airport.
The AAIB, an office under India's Ministry of Civil Aviation, are focusing on the actions of the pilots rather than a technical fault with the plane following the publication of its preliminary report last week.
But the Airline Pilots’ Association of India (APAI) said it rejected the “tone and direction” of the inquiry, which is being supported by UK and US safety agents.
Captain Mohan Ranganathan, an Indian aviation safety expert, said: “I have heard from several Air India pilots who told me he had some depression and mental health issues. He had taken time off from flying in the last three to four years. He had taken medical leave for that.”
According to The Daily Telegraph, Captain Sabharwal took bereavement leave following the death of his mother.
However, Mr Ranganathan added: “He must have been medically cleared by the company doctors; they must have given the clearance certificate.”
All but one of the 242 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner — British-Indian man Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40 — were killed when the aircraft plunged into a medical student hostel on June 12.
Initial evidence indicates that both switches controlling fuel flow to the jet’s two engines were switched off almost simultaneously, starving the engines of fuel.
In the cockpit, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he "did the cut-off". The other pilot responded that he did not do so.
It is not specified who said what between Mr Sabharwal and his Borivali-baed co-pilot Clive Kundar, 34, who had 3,400 hours of flying experience.
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Neighbours in Powai, a residential suburb located in central Mumbai, remembered Mr Sabharwal as a quiet man who was often seen escorting his father on evening strolls.
“He was a doting son who never missed a chance to take his father down for fresh air,” said one.
Neil Pais, a former colleague, added that Mr Sabharwal was a “thorough gentleman”, saying: “He was actually considering early retirement in the next couple of years.
“His father is very old, 90, and he was going to look after him full time.”
Savitri Budhania, an elderly neighbour of Mr Sabharwal, said: “Whenever he wasn’t flying, he would walk hand in hand with his father in the evenings.”
He was a doting son who never missed a chance to take his father down for fresh air
An official working with the Tata Group, Air India’s parent company, said that Mr Sabharwal had not taken recent medical leave.
“He did take bereavement leave in 2022 following his mother’s death, and his medical records were submitted as part of the investigation, and the preliminary report did not find anything noteworthy,” they said.
