India Air pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 55, has been lauded for his quick-thinking actions which likely stopped dozens more people being killed when his Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed
The pilot of the doomed Air India flight has been praised for ‘saving dozens of lives’ with his final decision seconds before his plane crashed into a building full of medical students.
A total of 270 bodies have now been recovered from the site of the disaster in Ahmedabad, India, after search teams spent the weekend looking through rubble and the burnt-out wreckage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which came down shortly after take-off on Thursday. Among those believed dead are 241 passengers and crew on board, including at least 50 British nationals, while the rest of the casualties are thought to have been inside the doctors’ hostel or on the ground nearby. One British passenger on the the London-bound plane, 40-year-old Vishwash Ramesh, miraculously survived the crash.
But India Air pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who died in the impact, has now been described as a ‘hero’ for diverting his plane into a patch of grassland and avoiding a direct hit on the doctors’ hostel, saving countless lives.
He sent a mayday message to air control less than a minute after the plane took off from Ahmedabad airport, with the plane reaching a height of 650ft before beginning a rapid descent.
As well as being a pilot, the 55-year-old from Mumbai was also the primary carer for his elderly father, Pushkaraj, who was himself once an officer with India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation.
In a call to him a few minutes before take-off, he told him: “I’ll call you once I reach London.”
Indian media reported that he had recently promised his dad he would retire from flying so he could return home and look after him full time.
Family friend Lande told India Today: “Sumit had spoken to him just three days ago, saying he wanted to leave flying and come home to care for him.
“His father couldn’t say a word. His eyes were filled with tears.”
In tribute, colleagues described Captain Sabharwal as a “good, quiet person” who acted as a mentor to younger pilots.
Black box retrieved from crash site
As work continues at the crash site this week – with experts from US aviation giant Boeing now having arrived to analyse the wreckage – focus will also turn to the contents of the aeroplane’s black box and cockpit voice recorder, which was retrieved on Friday
It could reveal vital information about the engine and control settings, while the voice recorder will offer an insight into the final conversations of Captain Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kunder before the plane went down.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the investigation into the crash, with four UK experts also having flown out to provide additional support and expertise.
The US National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting its own probe, as the aircraft was American-made.