Ahmedabad, New Delhi: A Tragic Flight and Devoted Family
A few days before he took command of the doomed Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Captain Sumit Sabharwal had a heartfelt promise. It wasn’t to his airline, his colleagues, or even himself. It was to his aging and sickly father.
Captain Sumit Sabharwal: "I will quit flying soon. I will be with you."
But the moment never came.
When Air India flight AI171 crashed near Ahmedabad on June 12, 2017, it wasn’t just an aviation tragedy. It was a quiet story of devotion that ended too soon.
Sabharwal, in his mid-50s, lived in Mumbai and had never wedded. He spent most of his time taking care of his elderly father and staying in touch with his sister.
Capt. C.S. Randhawa: "He was one of ours. Single. Lived for his father. That is who he was."
Sabharwal was known among colleagues as dependable and soft-spoken. He had clocked over 8,000 flying hours and was a Line Training Captain, responsible for the next generation of pilots. Ironically, he was also involved in safety audits and checks. His people looked up to him as someone who was a stickler for safety and one who pilots often looked up to.
Hours after the crash, actor Vikrant Massey shared a heartbreaking tribute. The man he sat next to in the cockpit, First Officer Clive Kunder, was his cousin. The terrible news reflected much more than just grief. "There are no words for this kind of loss," Massey said.
For future contributions. For now, the waiting is expected to be a different experience.
