Fuel Cutoff, Mental Health, and 241 Dead: Inside Air India’s Tragic 787 Disaster
Medical records handed over amid reports of depression and psychological struggles before deadly 787 Dreamliner crash
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In the wake of the devastating Air India crash that killed 241 passengers and left only one survivor, investigators have obtained the medical records of the flight’s captain, Sumit Sabharwal, 56, amid emerging reports that he had suffered from depression and other mental health issues. Captain Sabharwal, who was the lead pilot of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight en route to London, had logged more than 15,000 flight hours prior to the tragedy.
According to reports from The Telegraph, Sabharwal had taken medical leave multiple times over the past few years due to alleged psychological difficulties.
“I spoke to several Air India pilots who said he was dealing with depression and mental health problems,” said Mohan Ranganathan, a prominent aviation safety expert in India. “He took breaks from flying over the past three to four years. These were medical leaves taken because of his condition.”
The revelations come as Air India CEO Campbell Wilson publicly challenged preliminary findings from crash investigators, which suggest that a possible human error involving the aircraft’s fuel cutoff switches may have caused the crash.
According to The Telegraph report, Sabharwal also took bereavement leave in 2022 after the death of his mother and had recently been considering retirement to care for his aging father. Ranganathan added that Sabharwal underwent a mandatory medical evaluation in September last year, and if he was cleared to return to duty, that would indicate he was granted a certificate of medical fitness by Air India’s approved doctors.
“He must have been issued a fitness certificate. The airline’s medical team would have signed off on his return to duty,” Ranganathan stated.
The early investigation report, led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), found that the fuel cutoff switch for the aircraft's engines was activated just three seconds after takeoff. However, investigators have yet to determine how or why the switch was engaged. No technical malfunction or emergency has so far been identified that would have necessitated fuel cutoff at that stage of the flight.
Both black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and the flight data recorder (FDR), were recovered from the wreckage several days after the crash and are being analyzed as part of the ongoing probe.
While Air India has refused to comment directly on Sabharwal’s reported mental health challenges, a spokesperson for Tata Group, which owns Air India, confirmed that the pilot’s medical files were submitted to investigators.
In an internal memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal, CEO Wilson cautioned against drawing premature conclusions.