SC issues notice to Centre, DGCA, says Air India pilot not at fault in Ahmedabad crash

The Supreme Court on Friday told the 91-year-old father of the pilot who died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad that his son is not to be blamed for the accident and he should not carry the burden on himself.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the Centre and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on his plea.

"You should not carry burden on yourself. The pilot is not to be blamed for the plane crash. It was an accident. There is no insinuation against him even in the preliminary report," the bench said.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the pilot's father, Pushkaraj Sabharwal, said there was a news article in US publication Wall Street Journal with regard to the pilot, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal. "It was nasty reporting only to blame India," the bench responded.

It read out a paragraph from the preliminary report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) issued on July 12 and said nowhere it is said that the pilot is to be blamed for the accident and it only refers to the conversation between the two pilots of the plane.

"The scope of the AAIB investigation is not to blame but to suggest preventive measures to avoid future tragedies. If necessary, we will clarify that the pilot cannot be blamed," the bench said. The court listed the matter for further hearing on November 10, along with other pending petitions on the incident.

The June 12 plane crash claimed 260 lives — 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground. Last month, Pushkaraj Sabharwal and the Federation of Indian Pilots moved the Supreme Court for a court-monitored inquiry headed by a former apex court judge into the plane crash.

The nonagenarian has sought a "fair, transparent and technically robust" investigation into the tragic 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," his plea said.

The petition, filed through AP&J Chambers on October 10, made Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA and AAIB respondents. The plea seeks directions for the constitution of an independent committee, also comprising aviation and technical experts, to probe the crash.

The ill-fated aircraft had taken off from Ahmedabad for London Gatwick but crashed within minutes, impacting the BJ Medical College hostel located less than a nautical mile from the end of the runway. The Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) failed to activate, and both the pilot-in-command Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Captain Clive Kunder lost their lives in the crash, the plea said.