Air India Pilot’s Heroic Final Maneuver May Have Saved Thousands from Catastrophe
As Flight AI-171 crashed near Ahmedabad, a split-second decision by the pilot might have spared countless lives in one of India's deadliest aviation tragedies.
Eyewitness accounts and early reports suggest Captain Sumeet Sabharwal veered the doomed aircraft away from a major hospital, possibly preventing a far greater death toll.
A devastating plane crash that killed 270 people in Ahmedabad, India, last week may have had an unseen hero in its final moments. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the veteran pilot of Air India Flight AI-171, is believed to have made a courageous final decision that likely averted an even greater catastrophe.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed just moments after takeoff on June 12, 2025, bound for London Gatwick. With over 240 passengers and crew aboard, the aircraft issued a chilling mayday call seconds before it went down: “Mayday… no thrust, losing power, unable to lift.”
A fiery crash in a densely populated area
The jet plunged into a medical college hostel near the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, igniting a massive fire due to the full fuel load. All but one person onboard perished, and several individuals on the ground also lost their lives.
Yet the death toll, as horrific as it is, could have been even higher.
Online aviation analysts and local residents are pointing to the plane’s final trajectory as a possible deliberate maneuver by Captain Sabharwal. Just 400 meters north of the crash site lies Civil Hospital Ahmedabad—a massive facility with over 3,000 beds. A direct hit there could have resulted in thousands of additional casualties.
“He made a choice in those last seconds”
In a Reddit thread dissecting the crash location, one commenter noted that the pilot may have intentionally steered away from densely populated areas. “It crashed in a somewhat loosely populated area… just 400 meters north is a civil hospital and to the south is a high-density residential zone,” the user wrote.
If true, this split-second redirection adds a layer of heroism to the legacy of Captain Sabharwal, who was nearing retirement. His co-pilot, Officer Clive Kundar, was just beginning his aviation career.
Black box found as investigation deepens
The aircraft’s black box has been recovered, a key development that Indian authorities say will greatly assist in uncovering the technical failures that led to the crash.
Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, India’s Minister of Civil Aviation, called the black box’s recovery “an important step forward” in the investigation, which is now the nation’s most urgent aviation safety probe in more than 30 years.
While questions remain about what caused the engine failure so soon after takeoff, one thing is becoming clear: the pilot’s actions, under unimaginable pressure, may have prevented a far worse outcome.
As India mourns its worst air disaster in decades, tributes are pouring in for those lost—and especially for Captain Sabharwal, whose final decision may have saved thousands of lives.
