A Boeing 787 Dreamliner plummeted into an Ahmedabad hostel, killing 260 souls, and now fingers point at Captain Sumeet Sabharwal’s chilling decision to cut the fuel, as the U.S. Sun reports.
Air India Flight AI 171, departing Ahmedabad on June 12, crashed 30 seconds after takeoff, leaving one survivor amid 260 deaths, including 52 Britons. The preliminary report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau reveals that the fuel control switches were flipped to "cut-off" post-liftoff, starving the engines. This wasn’t some woke mechanical glitch—both engines were flawless, no bird strikes, no fuel issues.
Captain Sabharwal, 56, a veteran with 15,000 flying hours, sat at the controls as First Officer Clive Kunder piloted the climb. Sources say Sabharwal reached for the guarded fuel switches, a deliberate act given their lock mechanism. Accidental flips? Pure fantasy.
One second apart, both fuel switches were cut, and ten seconds later, flipped back on -- too late, engines dead. Kunder’s panicked cry, “Why did you cut off?” met Sabharwal’s eerie denial: “I didn’t.” Sounds like a man dodging accountability faster than a progressive dodges facts.
The cockpit voice recorder captured their tense exchange, painting a picture of chaos in the critical moments. Sabharwal, known as “Sad Sack” for his grim demeanor, was months from retirement, grappling with his mother’s death. Personal struggles don’t justify endangering lives.
American investigators, led by the NTSB, jumped in since the Boeing 787 is FAA-certified. They’re sniffing around for criminal intent, which would be automatic on American soil. No surprise -- cutting fuel mid-climb isn’t exactly standard procedure.
Former NTSB official Ben Berman noted nothing justified emergency actions after takeoff; it was a routine climb. Yet, Sabharwal’s hands were free, and those switches don’t move themselves. Aviation expert Captain Steve Scheibner called the odds of a dual-engine flameout “two and a half billion to one.”
Scheibner didn’t mince words: “There’s no universe where you cut both fuel switches right after rotate.” He’s right -- pilots don’t fumble guarded switches like a bureaucrat fumbling policy. This smells like intent, not incompetence.
The switches’ design requires conscious effort, as former pilot Terry Tozer emphasized: “That implies a conscious human action.” No pilot, especially one with Sabharwal’s 8,000 Dreamliner hours, would accidentally graze them. The progressive urge to blame systems over people won’t fly here.
Sabharwal, once a “middle-class boy” dreaming of the skies, per fellow pilot Kapil Kohal, lived simply, almost monastically. But his mental health history -- time off for issues, though he passed a 2024 medical exam—raises red flags. Grief and stress don’t excuse what looks like sabotage.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy is pushing to determine if this crash signals broader safety risks. She’s wise to dig deep; the public deserves answers, not vague assurances. Boeing, GE Aerospace, and the FAA staying mum? Typical corporate sidestep.
Air India’s CEO, Campbell Wilson, urged staff not to rush to judgment, claiming the preliminary report offered “clarity” but no cause. Clarity? More like a fog of questions, and his call for calm feels like a dodge from tough truths.
Indian authorities clammed up, with a Ministry of Civil Aviation officer dismissing US reports as “one-sided.” Refusing to engage while 260 families grieve isn’t leadership -- it’s deflection. The truth doesn’t bend to diplomatic posturing.
The lone survivor’s existence is a miracle amid this tragedy, but it doesn’t soften the horror. Sabharwal’s calm flip of those switches, starving the engines, defies every protocol in aviation. No woke narrative can spin this as anything but a deliberate act.
American-led probes may yet uncover criminality, but one thing’s clear: this wasn’t a glitch or a fluke. Scheibner’s right -- everything about this crash feels “unbelievable.” The world awaits answers, and they’d better come fast before trust in aviation takes a nosedive.
