‘Suicide by the captain’: Air India crash probe shifts focus to senior pilot, Aussie expert floats horrific theory

An Australian aviation expert has suggested a troubling theory as an investigation into the Air India disaster reveals that the lead pilot made a critical move during takeoff.

An aviation expert believes the Air India plane disaster which killed more than 200 people was the result of “suicide by the captain” after new information came to light.

Fresh details from the probe into last month’s crash indicated a senior pilot turned off switches controlling fuel flow to the plane’s engines.

An assessment by US officials of the investigation into the Ahmedabad crash, which killed 260 people on June 12 has shifted focus toward lead pilot Sumeet Sabharwal, theWall Street Journal reports.

Captain Sabharwal is believed to have moved the switches to the “cut off” position shortly after flight 171 climbed off the runway, according to analysis of the black-box findings.

Sky News aviation expert Captain Byron Bailey said on Thursday he and colleagues believed “straight away … the only way this could have happened is if the captain” turned off the switches.

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was the lead pilot of the Air India Boeing Dreamliner.

Rescue officials work at the site where Air India flight 171 crashed. Picture: Sam Panthaky/AFP

“The first one (switch), which is right by his right hand, (was moved) three seconds after lift off and the second (switch) one second later,” he said.

Captain Bailey said the co-pilot would have been occupied flying the plane, leaving the senior pilot monitoring the flight as the only one capable of moving the mechanical switches.

“They require absolute physical effort to lift the switch up, raise it over … and back down. So it had to be done by one of the pilots,” he said.

“What is very obvious to pilots is, three seconds after lift off is the perfect time to have done this.”

He explained that if it was done sooner the flying pilot would have been able to take evasive action and apply brakes, and later would have given the engines time to recover.

“We think it’s definitely a suicide by the captain,” Captain Bailey said.

Pilot asked ‘why’

Initial findings from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) into the crash reported that one of the pilots asked the other why the switches had been moved.

“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut-off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” it said.

The Journal cites US pilots who have read the AAIB report as saying First Officer Clive Kunder would likely have had his hands full flying the plane when the fuel switches were turned off.

That meant Captain Sabharwal, who was monitoring, would be more likely to have moved the switches.

Captain Sabharwal was a veteran in the industry while Mr Kunder was in his early 30s and still building his career.

Air India flight 171 crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. Picture: Vijay Patani/AFP

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner they were flying was headed from Ahmedabad in western India to London when it crashed, killing all but one of the 242 people on board as well as 19 people on the ground.

In its 15-page report, released this week, the AAIB said that once the aircraft achieved its top recorded speed, “the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cut-off switches transitioned from RUN to CUT-OFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec”.

The switches were turned back on about 10 seconds later, according to the AAIB findings.

The crash was one of the deadliest air disasters in decades. Picture: Sam Panthaky/AFP

Captain Sabharwal, 56, has been described by friends as a softly-spoken, devoted family man who began his career in the 1990s.

Campbell Wilson, chief executive of Air India, this week told staff in a memo the investigation was “far from over”.

Mr Wilson said “over the past 30 days, we’ve seen an ongoing cycle of theories, allegations, rumours and sensational headlines, many of which have later been disproven”.

First Officer Clive Kunder, from Mumbai. Picture: Supplied

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association said on Sunday it was “deeply disturbed by speculative narratives” surrounding the Air India crash “particularly the reckless and unfounded insinuation of pilot suicide”.

“There is absolutely no basis for such a claim at this stage,” it said in a statement, adding, “it is deeply insensitive to the individuals and families involved.”

“To casually suggest pilot suicide without verified evidence is a gross violation of ethical reporting and a disservice to the dignity of the profession,” it said.

The comments came after media reports questioned the senior pilots mental health history, including that he had taken leave in recent years due to personal reasons.

Colleagues of Captain Sabharwal as a “very reserved guy” during flight school, saying he had a love of flying.

Mr Kunder was remembered by his sister Camille as a passionate pilot who pretended to fly planes during his childhood.

Both India and Singapore ordered their airlines to examine fuel switches on several Boeing models, with South Korea set to do the same after the devices came under scrutiny this week.

Originally published as ‘Suicide by the captain’: Air India crash probe shifts focus to senior pilot, Aussie expert floats horrific theory