Pilot in Air India crash ‘is to not blame’ after horror killed 260 individuals
India’s Supreme Court has suggested that the pilot of the Air India flight that crashed and killed 260 people “is not to blame”.
The Supreme Court said the preliminary report into the Air India crash does not insinuate anything against the captain, however, judges will consider a plea from the pilot’s father for an independent investigation.
In June, Air India Flight 171 to London Gatwick struck a building shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad, killing 241 people on board, while a further 19 people died on the ground. Briton Viswashkumar Ramesh was the sole survivor of the horror crash after being the only passenger to walk away from the wreckage. Mr Ramesh said he had been “broken down” by the trauma, reports Sky News.
Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, 91, the father of pilot Sumeet Sabharwal called for the Supreme Court to order an investigation by a panel of aviation experts into the crash on Friday. A hearing to consider that plea is scheduled for November 10.
Sumeet Sabharwal was in charge as the pilot-in-command, while Clive Kunder was the first officer flying the plane. Mr Sabharwal demanded an independent committee examine the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash and criticised the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
A few weeks earlier he claimed two officials from the AAIB visited him and had implied his son cut the fuel to the plane’s engine after take-off. The government has denied the allegations and said the investigation was “very clean” and “very thorough”.
A preliminary report, published by the AAIB in July, stated switches in the cockpit that controlled fuel were moved to a “CUTOFF” position. The report added that audio recording from the cockpit revealed one of the pilots asking the other why he “cut off”, with the other pilot saying he did not do so.
The report, 15 pages long, didn’t identify which comments came from who. Both pilots were experienced, with around 19,000 flying hours between them, including more than 9,000 on the 787.
53 UK citizens were aboard the planed carrying 241 people in total.
Mr Ramesh, who lives in Leicester with his wife and their son four, told Sky News he is still suffering physical discomfort after the crash – dealing with knee, shoulder and back pain, as well as burns to his left arm. Mr Ramesh has been offered a flat interim payment of £21,500 – a one-off sum given to a claimant in advance of reaching the end of a personal injury claim.
