‘No one believes it was pilot’s fault’: Supreme Court tells father of Air India Dreamliner crash pilot

The court also issued notices to the Centre, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), seeking their response on the matter.

The remarks came during a hearing on a petition filed by Pushkaraj Sabharwal, whose son, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, was the pilot-in-command of the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that went down shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad.

The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) had also filed a separate plea demanding an independent probe.

Hearing the case, Justice Surya Kant comforted the 91-year-old petitioner, saying: “This crash was extremely unfortunate, but you should not carry the burden that your son is being blamed. No one in India believes it was the pilot’s fault. There’s no insinuation against him in the preliminary report.”

The judge’s observation came as the petitioner’s lawyer, Gopal Shankaranarayan, cited an article by The Wall Street Journal that allegedly suggested pilot error.

“We are not bothered by foreign reports,” Justice Kant responded. “If that’s the concern, your remedy lies before a foreign court. It’s just nasty reporting.”

The lawyer, however, argued that the article had quoted “an Indian government source,” adding to the family’s distress.

The petitions stem from the AAIB’s preliminary report, released in July, which stated that fuel supply to both engines was cut off shortly after takeoff.

The report said the aircraft’s fuel control switches were moved to the cutoff position in quick succession and turned back on about 10 seconds later—but by then, both engines had already flamed out.

While the report quoted cockpit voice recordings in which one pilot asked the other whether the fuel had been cut off, receiving a denial, it did not rule out a technical malfunction.

The AAIB also said aviation medicine and psychology experts were part of the ongoing investigation.

Advocate Shankaranarayan argued that the AAIB probe lacked independence, pointing to global scrutiny of Boeing aircraft and urging a judicial inquiry. “There’s a problem with Boeing aircraft all over the world,” he said.

The Supreme Court said it would take up both petitions- the one filed by Captain Sabharwal’s father and the one filed by the pilots’ federation- on November 10.

Meanwhile, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, speaking at the Aviation India 2025 Summit on October 30, said the airline had taken the report seriously even though it found no fault with its operations or procedures.

“Anything that happens in the industry, whether with us or others, is a cause for introspection and review,” Wilson said.