Mental Health Claims Trigger Medical Review of Air India Pilot

Investigators probing the Air India crash in Ahmedabad are reviewing the pilot’s medical records following reports that he might have been experiencing depression and other mental health struggles.

56-year-old Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was only months away from retiring and had been reportedly contemplating leaving the airline to take care of his older father after his mother passed in 2022. This news was unveiled in The Telegraph.

The pilot, who had logged over 15,000 flying hours, recently completed a Class I medical examination on September 5, 2024.

His records have been sent to investigators, whose preliminary report indicated that the inquiry is centred on pilot actions rather than technical malfunctions. The Airline Pilots’ Association of India has criticised the “tone and direction” of the investigation.

A leading aviation safety expert in India, Captain Mohan Ranganathan, told The Telegraph “I have heard from several Air India pilots who told me he had some depression and mental health issues. He had taken time off from flying in the last three to four years. He had taken medical leave for that.”

The Telegraph acknowledged that Captain Sabharwal took bereavement leave after the death of his mother. But Mr Ranganathan said, “He must have been medically cleared by the company [Air India] doctors. They must have given the clearance certificate.”

All but one of the 242 passengers and crew on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost their lives last month when the aircraft crashed into a medical student hostel less than one minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport.

A preliminary report on the investigation into the crash was released by Indian authorities on Saturday. It revealed that switches controlling fuel flow to both engines were turned off. This would cause a major catastrophic loss of thrust during takeoff.

The report states that in the recovered cockpit voice recording, one pilot is heard asking the other why the fuel was cut off, to which the other pilot responded that he didn’t do it. It’s unclear still which pilot made each statement.

Although the initial report did not result in any sort of conclusion, it has placed focus on the actions of Captain Sabharwal, the aircraft’s captain, and First Officer Clive Kundar.

According to cockpit procedures, First Officer Kundar, who was the pilot flying and responsible for the take-off, would have had both hands on the control column during said manoeuvre.

Captain Sabharwal, acting as the pilot monitoring, would have had his hands free. This places him in a position where he could cut off the fuel supply, according to Mr Ranganathan.

He joined Air India in 1994 and had accumulated more than 8,000 flying hours on this particular aircraft model. Following his mother’s passing, he relocated from Delhi to Mumbai to care for his father. Surprisingly, he was even considering leaving the airline altogether to focus on his family.

Neighbours in Mumbai remembered him as a quiet man who was often seen escorting his father on evening walks. “He was a doting son who never missed a chance to take his father down for fresh air,” said one.

Neil Pais, a former colleague, said the pilot was a “thorough gentleman”, telling The Telegraph: “He was actually considering early retirement in the next couple of years. His father is very old, 90, and he was going to look after him full-time. That was the plan.

“We’re all human beings. Yes, there have been crew who’ve displayed tendencies towards mental health issues, and they’ve been grounded straight away. It’s not allowed to go unchecked.

“Often it’s more about life outside the job, which of course plays a part in how you perform. But if there’s a concern, it’s taken up by operations, by the right departments. They don’t let anyone fly if there’s any doubt.”

Air India declined to comment, but a Tata Group official, representing the airline’s parent company, told The Telegraph that Captain Sabharwal had not taken any recent medical leave.

“He did take bereavement leave in 2022 following his mother’s death, and his medical records were submitted as part of the investigation, and the preliminary report did not find anything noteworthy,” he said.

Both pilots on board successfully passed the Class I medical examination, which assessed their psychophysical fitness over the past two years.

First Officer Kundar was 28 years old and hailed from an aviation family. His mother worked as flight crew and he began his career by completing an aircraft maintenance course at Mumbai’ Bombay Flying Club before making the transition to piloting.

Raised in Air India’s colony in Kalina before his family relocated to Borivali, he had accumulated 1,100 flying hours very early in his career. 

The Indian Commercial Pilot’s Association stated that the crew of flight 171 acted in accordance with their training and responsibilities under difficult conditions. It firmly rejected any allegations of misconduct and shared deep concern over the ongoing speculation.