Investigations into the Air India crash which killed over 250 people last month have started to analyse the behaviour of the pilot.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, an experienced pilot with more than 8,200 hours in the cockpit, was the lead pilot when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed on June 12.
The plane hit the residential area of Meghani Nagar in Ahmedabad, killing 241 people on board and 19 more on the ground.
The flight was heading to Gatwick when it crashed, leaving only one survivor: Indian-born British citizen Vishwas Kumar Ramesh.
Air India crash: Investigation looks into pilot's medical records as mother recently passed awayLeading aviation safety expert in India, Captain Mohan Ranganathan, has since suggested the crash could have been the result of deliberate human action.
He said that “several” Air India pilots had allegedly confirmed Sabharwal had suffered from bad mental health.
“He had taken time off from flying in the last three or four years. He had taken medical leave for that,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
It is also understood that Sabharwal had taken bereavement leave after the death of his mother, however Ranganathan believes he had been “medically cleared” by Air India prior to the flight.
REUTERS | PICTURED: A tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen stuck on a building after the incident in AhmedabadA preliminary report released by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has led to questions about whether the crash was a deliberate act or a catastrophic mistake.
Seconds after taking off, two fuel switches in the cockpit were turned off.
The switches have a “locking feature” which means they are not simple buttons which can accidentally be turned off, but rather pilots must lift them up before changing their position.
While the preliminary report did not find any significant findings, it did contain audio recordings from the cockpit.
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Reuters | Smoke rises near a damaged building and trees after an Air India plane crashed in AhmedabadThe report said: “In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other: why did he cut off? The other pilot responded that he did not do so.”
However, it is not known who said what.
The report added that the switches were flipped back within seconds, which started the process of relighting the engines.
Although Air India has declined to comment on Sabharwal’s mental health, the airline’s parent company, Tata Group, has confirmed his medical records were submitted as part of the investigation.
The firm added that both pilots onboard, Sabharwal and the 28-year-old co-pilot Clive Kunder, had passed the Class I medical exam which makes an evaluation of their psycho-physical capabilities.
The report had also said both pilots were adequately rested before the flight and were found “fit to operate” following a breath analyser test.
India’s civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu has responded to the claims regarding human error.
He said: “We care for the welfare and the wellbeing of pilots so let’s not jump to any conclusion at this stage, let us wait for the final report.
“I believe we have the most wonderful workforce of pilots and crew in the whole world.”