Father of Air India crash pilot vows to defend his son's reputation
Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, whose son died in the Air India crash last June, says he will continue to protect his son's honour ahead of an expected update from investigators. He rejects media speculation that his son caused the disaster.
The father of one of the pilots killed in last year's Air India plane crash has vowed to defend his son's reputation days before investigators are expected to release new findings.
Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, father of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, told the BBC he had to protect his son's honour. The 90-year-old former aviation safety officer spoke months after rejecting media reports that suggested investigators were shifting focus to his son.
The crash occurred on 12 June 2025, when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying to London crashed seconds after take off from Ahmedabad, western India, killing at least 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew.
The cause remains unknown. A preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) in July 2025 found that fuel control switches for both engines had moved from "run" to "cut-off" shortly after take off, depriving the engines of fuel. Cockpit audio captured one pilot asking another why they had "cut off", and the other replying they had not. Investigators did not identify which pilot spoke.
After the preliminary report, The Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported that new details were turning attention towards Captain Sabharwal. Reuters, citing unnamed sources, said the cockpit recording supported the view that the captain cut the fuel flow. These reports drew strong backlash from Indian pilots' associations, which criticised the coverage and rejected suggestions the senior pilot caused the crash. The AAIB also criticised "selective and unverified reporting" by some international media, calling attempts to draw conclusions before the investigation was complete "irresponsible".
Captain Sabharwal's father approached India's Supreme Court, seeking an independent investigation. The court stated that "nobody can blame" the senior pilot and that there was "no suggestion of his fault in the initial report".
Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, a retired aviation safety officer, said his son was a veteran pilot with three decades of experience at Air India, logging over 15,600 flying hours, including 8,600 on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. He said his son planned to retire soon to care for him. He described his son as kind, soft-spoken and devoted to family.
Nearly a year after the crash, families and aviation experts await the next findings. When asked what he would do if future findings were not in his son's favour, Pushkar Raj said: "If I am to keep myself alive and quiet, I must forget – try to forget – which is not possible. That is my situation."
