Air India plane crash: Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was an experienced pilot who commanded Dreamliners

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal had been with the carrier for over two decades and was among the select pilots who have steered Dreamliner flights for Air India since the aircraft were inducted into the country’s flagship carrier in 2012.

Chennai: Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who commanded the ill-fated Air India 171 from Ahmedabad to London, was a Line Training Captain (LTC) with an impressive record of 8,200 flying hours. He was one of the most seasoned pilots commanding the Boeing Dreamliner series.

Sabharwal had been with the carrier for over two decades and was among the select pilots who have steered Dreamliner flights for Air India since the aircraft were inducted into the country’s flagship carrier in 2012.

As an LTC, he was tasked with training young pilots in commanding aircraft.

It is also understood that Sabharwal, along with Sunil Simon, was at the controls when the first Dreamliner in Air India’s fleet landed at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on September 27, 2012.

The aircraft had previously made its first landing in New Delhi on September 9, 2012.

The Boeing 787, or Dreamliner, is one of the most sophisticated aircraft in the world, equipped with several advanced features. This is the first time that Air India’s Dreamliner fleet has been involved in a hull-loss incident.

Air India currently has 26 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners in its fleet, after losing one today, and seven Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Colleagues and well-wishers remembered Sabharwal as a “calm” and “methodical” pilot who placed passenger safety above everything else.

“He was a very good friend and a great pilot. From what I know after seeing the video of the plane nose-diving into a building, I think he lost power on both engines,” a pilot said on condition of anonymity.

Sources said Captain Sabharwal was one of the most experienced commanders in Air India to steer the Dreamliner fleet and had operated numerous international sectors.

“He was known for his discipline and adherence to protocol,” a source said. His first officer, Clive Kundar, was also relatively experienced, with 1,100 hours of flight time. “Both pilots were trained to handle long-haul international operations and emergency situations,” the source added.

Not just colleagues, but even passengers had good things to say about the Captain.

An X user, P K Mahajan, said he flew with Captain Sabharwal on an Air India Dreamliner flight to Paris recently. “I just said Jai Hind to him…he was the most experienced pilot,” he wrote.