Air India Crash Case: Father of Late Capt Sumeet Sabharwal Moves Supreme Court, Calls Probe Report ‘Defective and Perverse'

Father of Late Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who was the Pilot-in-Command of the ill-fated aircraft, has approached the Supreme Court of India seeking a judicially monitored committee, to be headed by a retired Judge of the Court, with independent experts from the aviation sector as its members, to conduct a fair, transparent, and technically sound investigation into the crash of Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft.

The petitioner Pushkaraj Sabharwal has alleged that the investigation ordered by Aviation Ministry and the preliminary report dated 15.06.2025 is defective and suffers from serious infirmities and perversities, as the report implausibly asserts the cause of the crash to pilot error, while overlooking other glaring and plausible systemic causes that demand independent scrutiny and investigation of the incident. 

"An incomplete and prejudiced inquiry, without identification of the exact cause of the accident, endangers the lives of future passengers and undermines aviation safety at large, causing a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India", the plea adds.

The petition also filed by a society representing over 6,000 professional pilots, of which Late Capt. Sabharwal and Co-Pilot Captain Late Mr Clive Kunder were respected and longstanding members, states that Capt. Sabharwal had an unblemished career spanning over 30 years, with 15,638 hours of incident-free flying, including 8,596 hours on Boeing 787-8 aircraft, without a single reported lapse or incident causing fatalities or otherwise. 

Preliminary investigation into the crash is alleged to be profoundly flawed as the investigation team had rather that conducting a comprehensive technical inquiry, appears to have predominantly focused on the deceased pilots, who are no longer able to defend themselves, while failing to examine or eliminate other more plausible technical and procedural causes of the crash.

"The current approach of the investigation has resulted in a failure to adequately examine, or rule out, other more plausible technical and procedural factors relating to the Boeing that could have contributed to the tragic incident", the petition argued emphasizing that factual misdirection through selective disclosure, especially against crew who cannot defend themselves, impedes root cause discovery and threatens future flight safety—calling for a neutral judicial lens.

The five-member investigation team appointed to investigate the crash is argued to be manifestly illegal and void, as it violates the fundamental principle of natural justice, i.e. nemo judex in causa sua, which mandates that no person should be a judge in their own cause. "The team is dominated by officers from DGCA, the State aviation authorities whose procedures, oversight, and possible lapses are directly implicated in the investigation. Moreover, the officers are placed under the control of the DG, AAIB, thereby creating a situation where the very entities responsible for regulating and overseeing civil aviation are effectively investigating themselves. This, combined with the involvement of Boeing and General Electric representatives, undermines the impartiality, credibility, and reliability of the Report.", the plea adds.

Hasty constitution of the investigating team, with overlapping roles of investigators and supervisory officers from the same State entities, is said to have resulted in an inquiry that is prejudiced and incapable of objectively determining the true cause of the crash, thereby undermining the credibility and integrity of the investigation and public confidence in aviation safety.

Last month, the Supreme Court had issued notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Safety Matters Foundation, seeking an independent and court-monitored investigation into the crash of Air India Flight AI171 that killed 260 people on June 12, 2025.

The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N.K. Singh had heard arguments raising concerns over the impartiality and transparency of the probe conducted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, had argued that over 100 days after the crash, the AAIB had only released a preliminary report, attributing the incident to pilot error due to fuel cutoff switches being moved from RUN to CUTOFF. Bhushan emphasized that critical data, including the full Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcripts with timestamps, and Electronic Aircraft Fault Recording (EAFR) data, have been withheld, limiting any meaningful analysis of the crash.

Bhushan had also raised concerns about conflicts of interest, noting that three of the five members of the investigating team are serving DGCA officials, whose organization’s role may come under scrutiny in the inquiry. He called for a fully independent investigation by an expert body, supervised by the Court to ensure fairness and transparency.

Court had issued notice to the respondents, directing that the investigation must be free, impartial, independent, and expedited by a suitably expert team. The Bench emphasized that the inquiry should be completed promptly, ensuring accurate conclusions while preventing speculation and misinformation. The hearing marks a critical step in addressing questions of accountability, technical scrutiny, and transparency following one of India’s deadliest aviation accidents, which has raised significant public and media attention.

The petition, filed by Safety Matters Foundation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting aviation safety, raises grave concerns over the selective and incomplete disclosures made by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) in its preliminary report.

The ill-fated Dreamliner, operating as Air India Flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12, 2025, killing 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 individuals on the ground. The aircraft, manufactured in 2013 and powered by GEnx-1B70 engines, had a valid Airworthiness Review Certificate at the time of the accident.

While the AAIB released its preliminary report on July 12, 2025, attributing the crash to the sudden transition of both fuel cutoff switches from RUN to CUTOFF, the petitioner claims the report is riddled with gaps. Sensitive technical information had already appeared in the Wall Street Journal before the report’s release, raising fears of selective leaks and compromised integrity.

Case Title: Pushkaraj Sabharwal and Anr. vs. Union of India and Others