Doomed Air India pilot's medical records probed amid reports of depression, other mental health struggles

Sky News AU

15-07-2025

Medical records for an Air India pilot killed in last month's crash were reportedly turned over to investigators amid reports he'd been suffering from depression and other mental health issues.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, was the lead pilot when the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner went down in Ahmedabad on June 12, killing 241 people on board and leaving just one survivor.
Sabharwal, who had more than 15,000 flying hours under his belt at the time of the tragedy, had taken medical leave in recent years due to apparent mental health woes, the Telegraph reported.
'I have heard from several Air India pilots who told me he had some depression and mental health issues,' said Mohan Ranganathan, a leading Indian aviation safety expert.
'He had taken time off from flying in the last three to four years. He had taken medical leave for that.'
The report comes as Air India's CEO pushed back on initial crash investigation findings that pilot error involving fuel cut-off switches may have caused the crash.
Sabharwal had also taken bereavement leave following the 2022 death of his mom and had recently been weighing retirement to care for his aging father, according to the Telegraph.
The pilot, who underwent a medical exam in September last year, would have been given clearance to return to work, Ranganathan said.
'He must have been medically cleared by the company [Air India] doctors. They must have given the clearance certificate,' he said.
It comes after a preliminary report into the tragedy found that the jet's engine fuel cutoff switch had been flipped just three seconds after taking off.
It is still unclear how or why the switch was flipped.
The report, which was spearheaded by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, didn't offer any findings that signaled whether any emergency before the crash would require a fuel cutoff.
Both black boxes for the doomed flight, which include the cockpit voice recorders and flight data, were recovered from the rubble a few days after the crash.
Air India declined to comment on reports about Sabharwal's mental health.
But a spokesperson for the airline's parent company, Tata Group, confirmed the pilot's records were turned over.
'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,' the rep said.
Meanwhile, the airline's CEO, Campbell Wilson, issued an internal memo insisting the probe into the crash was 'far from over' as investigators zero in on why the plane's engine fuel cutoff switch was flipped just seconds after take off.
'Over the past 30 days, we've seen an ongoing cycle of theories, allegations, rumors and sensational headlines, many of which have later been disproven,' read the memo, which was acquired by the Wall Street Journal.
The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association had previously said the crew on board the ill-fated plane had acted in line with their training ahead of the crash.
In addition to those on board, the crash left another 19 people dead on the ground after the aircraft plunged into a medical college.
British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the sole survivor and was spotted miraculously limping away from the wreckage in the moments after it made impact.
'When I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive,' he said from his hospital bed in the aftermath.
Originally published as Doomed Air India pilot's medical records probed amid reports of depression, other mental health struggles