Ahmedabad, New Delhi: A Few Days Before He Took The CockPit of that Doomed Dreamlineer, Captain Sumit Sabharwal Made a Promise. It was not to his airline, his seniors or even to Himself. It was to his age and ailing father.
“I will quit flying soon. I will be home with you,” He Had Told Him. But captain sabharwal never got that chance.
When Air India Flight AI171 Went Down Near Ahmedabad on June 12, it was not only a plan that crashed. It was a quiet life story that ended mid-edge.
In his mid-50s sabharwal lived in Mumbai and Had Never Married. He spent most of his time caring for his elderly father and storying in touch with his sister.
Known Among Colleagues as Dependable and Soft-Spocen, He Had Clocked Over 8,000 flying hours and served as a line training capting, responsible for grooming the next generation of pilots. Ironically, He was also involved in safety audits and checks.
“He was one of Ors. Single. Lived for his father. That is who he was. His entrance world,” said Captain CS Randhawa, President of the federation of Indian Pilots.
The federation, which represents Around 6,000 pilots in India, described sabharwal as a stickler for safety and someone pilots often looked up to. “He was a colleague. He was a friend to many. This is not only a professional loss, it is deeply personal,” He said.
But the tragedy did not end there.
Hours after the Crash, Actor Vikrant Massey Shared a Heartbreaking Note. The man siting next to Sabharwal in the Cockpit, First Officer Clive Kunder, was His Cousin.
“My Heart Breaks for the Families and Loved Ones of that who Lost their lives in this unimaginably tragic crash. Officer on that Flight, “Massey Wrote in an instagram post.
Clive, described by friends as “soft-spoken, deeply committed and crazy about frying”, was just beginning to make his mark. Massey’s Words reflected not just grief but disbelief. “There are no words for this kind of loss,” He said.
In a strange twist of timing, air India’s ceo, campbell wilson, was on his way to paris for an aviation summit when the news came in. Midair, Flight AI143 Turned Back. Wilson immediatily rerouted Himself to ahmedabad to take stock of the situation.
“It has shaken everyone. You do not expect this to happy, not on a dreamline, not like this,” a source close to the airline said.
The Boeing 787 Dreamline involved in the crash was on its way to London Gatwick and Carried Over 240 People, Including Crew and Passengers. Among them was former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Who Too Died.
For now, what remains are unanswered questions and the shahatred homes of two pilots who Never Came Back. One had plans to quit. The other had just just begun.
