Air India flight crash: A seasoned pilot's last promise - 'I'll quit to care for you, dad'

Air India plane crash

The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon claimed 241 lives, leaving behind shattered families and unfulfilled promises. Among the victims were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a seasoned pilot who had recently vowed to quit flying to care for his elderly father and First Officer Clive Kunder, whose family ties to actor Vikrant Massey were initially misreported before clarification.

Captain Sabharwal, 55, a Mumbai resident, had over 8,300 hours of flying experience and was a Line Training Captain involved in safety checks. Just days before the crash, he told his nonagenarian father, a retired DGCA official, that he would quit his job to look after him full-time. "Whenever he flew out, Sumeet would ask us to keep an eye on his father. He has now been left devastated," a neighbour was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.

Sabharwal was single and lived with his nonagenarian father. "Only a few days ago, he told his father that he would be quitting his job to look after him full time," Shiv Sena MLA Dilip Lande, who visited the grieving family, confirmed the poignant detail to TOI. The Sabharwals’ ties to aviation ran deep - besides his father, two nephews are also pilots.

As per NDTV, Clive Kunder, the 28-year-old co-pilot with 1,100 flying hours, came from a family with a strong aviation background - his mother was a former Air India flight attendant. His parents were in Sydney visiting his sister when the tragedy struck.

Initially, actor Vikrant Massey referred to Kunder as his "uncle’s son" in an emotional Instagram post, leading some media outlets to report them as cousins. However, Massey later clarified: "Dear friends in the media and elsewhere, the unfortunately deceased Mr Clive Kunder was NOT my cousin. The Kunder's are our family friends. Request no more speculations and let the family and loved ones grieve in peace."

His earlier post had read: "My heart breaks... my uncle Clifford lost his son Clive, the first officer on that fateful flight. May God give strength to all affected."

The flight AI-143 to London’s Gatwick Airport took off at 1.38 pm but crashed just 32 seconds later at 825 feet, bursting into flames. NDTV, citing the DGCA, reported that Captain Sabharwal had issued a "Mayday" distress call moments before contact was lost. The sole survivor, British-Indian passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, is recovering in hospital.

As per The New Indian Express, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson’s flight to Paris for an air show turned back mid-journey after the crash. He later flew to Ahmedabad to oversee the crisis response.