Pushkraj Sabharwal, father of pilot Captain Sumit Sabharwal, who died in the AI-171 plane crash in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court alleging lack of transparency and credibility in the investigation. 260 people died in this accident. He has demanded that an independent investigation be conducted into this matter under judicial supervision.

Objection to preliminary investigation
The petitioners say the initial investigation into the accident was seriously flawed and focused primarily on the pilots, who could no longer defend themselves. The petition has been filed on behalf of Pushkraj Sabharwal and Federation of Indian Pilots. The AAIB report cited human error as the cause of the accident, but family members and pilot organizations say that technical and procedural aspects were not properly examined in the investigation.

Questions on the impartiality of the investigation team
Objections have also been raised in the petition on the structure of the investigation committee. Most of its members are associated with the DGCA and state aviation authorities, the same institutions whose procedures and oversight are under question in this accident. The petitioners say that the investigating agencies are conducting their own investigation, which is against the principle of natural justice.

pilot’s record
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal had an impeccable career of 30 years, which included 15,638 hours of safe flying. He had flown on Boeing 787-8 aircraft for 8,596 hours without any incident. The petition demands that the accident be investigated by an independent expert committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, so that the real reasons can be transparently investigated and such accidents do not happen again in future.

How did the accident happen?
On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight 171, going from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed just seconds after takeoff. In this, 12 crew members and 229 passengers were killed, while one passenger miraculously survived. The plane crashed into the hostel of a medical college, killing 19 people.

The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) have issued a legal notice to both these media institutions, accusing the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Reuters of running misleading news regarding the initial investigation report of the Air India Flight AI-171 accident. FIP Chairman Captain CS Randhawa said on Saturday (July 19, 2025) that these reports have no factual basis and have damaged the image of the pilots. More than 250 people died in the AI-171 aircraft accident. The case is being investigated by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

Captain Randhawa said in a conversation with ANI, “I blame WSJ completely. They conclude and spread all over the world. Are they a investigating agency? When nothing has been written in the report, how can they make the results from themselves?” He also said that the reports are blaming the pilots incorrectly, while there is no such conclusion in the initial report.

‘Ask for apologizes WSJ and Reuters’- FIP

FIP has demanded WSJ and Reuters to publicly apologize and clarify about their reporting. Captain Randhawa said, “We have clearly said that if they do not apologize and do not give clarification, then we will take further legal action.”

NTSB also objected

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chairwoman Jennifer Homendi has also described the media reports as a hurry and estimate based. He said that such a big investigation process takes time and everyone should wait till the results of the official investigation of AAIB. The FIP president welcomed the NTSB’s statement and said that this would put an end to the baseless allegations being made on Indian pilots.

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