https://www.scmp.com/rss/522776/feed The latest news and top stories on Sumeet Sabharwal, the captain and pilot-in-command of Air India flight AI-171. He had over 15,600 flight hours, including extensive time on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Employed by Air India since 1994, he held the highest pilot certification. Sabharwal was killed in the fatal crash of June 12, 2025. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Reuters Reuters India’s civil aviation minister denied on Tuesday there was any “manipulation” in an official investigation into the crash of an Air India Dreamliner in June, after the father of the flight’s captain complained about the actions of investigators. It was the first official reaction to a complaint by Pushkar Raj Sabharwal sent to a pilots’ union last month, in which he said investigators had visited his home and implied that his son had cut the fuel to the plane’s engines after... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3328156/air-india-crash-probe-denies-manipulation-amid-captains-fathers-plea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3328156/air-india-crash-probe-denies-manipulation-amid-captains-fathers-plea?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Oct 2025 13:47:18 +0000 Reuters Reuters The father of the crashed Air India flight’s captain said officials from India’s accident investigation bureau visited him last month and implied his son cut the fuel to the plane’s engines after take-off, correspondence obtained by Reuters showed. Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, 91, emailed the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) last week to say that Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) officials had visited him at home on August 30 “under the pretext of offering condolences”, and implied his... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3326877/air-india-crash-grieving-father-captain-says-son-blamed-fuel-cut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3326877/air-india-crash-grieving-father-captain-says-son-blamed-fuel-cut?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Sep 2025 12:01:21 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg The head of the US National Transportation Safety Board said it is too soon to draw conclusions about what caused the deadly crash of an Air India aircraft following reports that the captain of the plane likely moved switches that control the flow of fuel to the engines. “Investigations of this magnitude take time,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said on Friday in a social media post. She called recent media reports “premature and speculative”, without providing any specifics on what exactly she... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3318833/us-official-says-air-india-crash-report-suspecting-pilot-error-premature?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3318833/us-official-says-air-india-crash-report-suspecting-pilot-error-premature?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Jul 2025 02:20:13 +0000 Reuters Reuters A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month indicates the captain turned off the switches that controlled fuel flowing to the plane’s engines, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The newspaper cited people familiar with US officials’ early assessment of evidence uncovered in the investigation into the crash, which killed 260 people. The first officer, who was flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, asked the more experienced captain... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3318503/air-india-crash-new-details-probe-shift-focus-planes-captain-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3318503/air-india-crash-new-details-probe-shift-focus-planes-captain-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jul 2025 23:46:18 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji An initial probe into last month’s deadly Air India crash has raised alarm among pilot groups, who warn that preliminary findings hinting at human error are premature and risk unfairly blaming the flight crew before the investigation is complete. A report by India’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), released on Friday, found that fuel supply to the aircraft’s engines was abruptly cut off just after take-off on June 12, moments before the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a college... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3318149/was-pilot-error-blame-air-india-crash-groups-urge-transparency-amid-bias-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3318149/was-pilot-error-blame-air-india-crash-groups-urge-transparency-amid-bias-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jul 2025 09:20:33 +0000