AI-171 Pilot's Body Found in Upright Position, Still Holding Plane Controls

Air India AI-171 Crash Investigation Under Scrutiny

A devastating crash occurred on an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, bound for London, which crashed into the hostel building of BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad, killing 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew members onboard and 19 people on the ground. One passenger survived the crash.

The disaster claimed the lives of three members of the Vohra family, including Yashmin, Parvez, and three-year-old niece. Romin Vohra, Parvez's brother, entered the Ahmedabad mortuary in an attempt to identify the remains of his family members. He claimed that he was able to gain access due to his previous employment as a pathology lab assistant at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vohra's experience inside the mortuary left him traumatized. According to his account, bodies were laid side by side across the floor, and he witnessed severed limbs and heads, as well as the remains of a mother still holding her child. He also attempted to identify the skull of a young girl using a photograph of his niece.

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One particular sight remains etched in Vohra's memory. He claimed that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal's body had been placed separately from the others, still in a sitting position, with his back burnt but the front of his body intact. Vohra alleged that the captain's uniform appeared largely intact, including his white shirt with four gold shoulder stripes, dark tie, trousers, and shoes. Furthermore, he suggested that the pilot was still holding the aircraft's double-handled yoke, the steering column used to operate the plane.

Aviation experts have suggested that if the account is accurate, it could indicate that Captain Sabharwal remained engaged in efforts to control the aircraft until the final moments before the crash. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released its preliminary findings on July 12 last year, citing cockpit voice recordings in which one pilot asked, "Why did you cut off?" while the other responded, "I didn’t." This sparked speculation over possible pilot error.

However, Captain Sabharwal's family and pilot associations have strongly opposed this narrative. His father, 88-year-old Pushkaraj Sabharwal, along with the Federation of Indian Pilots, moved the Supreme Court claiming the preliminary report was "profoundly flawed" and unfairly targeted pilots who were no longer alive to explain their actions. The Supreme Court later described such a narrative as "unfortunate".

The investigation has remained under intense scrutiny, with Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu appealing for restraint, asking people not to draw conclusions before the final investigation report is released next month. He also stated that there had been no manipulation in the probe.

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