Ahmedabad plane crash: Who were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and Clive Kundar? Pilots of Air India AI171 flight

An Air India aircraft with 242 people onboard crashed in the Indian state of Gujarat's Ahmedabad on Thursday (June 12). The incident took place in Meghani area near the Ahmedabad airport, five minutes after take-off. The plane, en route to London, had taken off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1.38 pm IST.

The plane was boarded by 242 people, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals.

In a post on X.com, Air India confirmed the crash. “The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals,” it said.

“The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals. We have also set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information,” it added.

Who were the pilots of Air India AI171 flight?

According to the officials, the plane was being flown by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal with First Officer Clive Kundar as his deputy. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was a Line Training Captain.

According to reports, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal had 8,200 hours of flying experience under his belt, while the co-pilot, Clive Kundar had 1,100 hours of flying experience.

As per reports, Clive Kundar resided in Mumbai with roots in Mangaluru. Clive had attended Paris Air Inc.

According to flight-tracking platform Flightradar24, the aircraft’s signal was lost at an altitude of just 625 feet, a dangerously low height for a jet of its size and weight, especially since it was heavily fuelled for a long-haul journey.

Flightradar24, which tracks air traffic in real time from all around the world, said in a tweet, “The aircraft involved in the Air India #AI171 crash is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration number VT-ANB and serial number 36279. First flight of the aircraft was on 2013-12-14 and it was delivered to Air India in January 2014.”

“Air India flight #AI171 was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad International Airport to London Gatwick Airport. The signal from the aircraft was lost at 08:08 UTC (13:38 local time) at 625 feet, less than a minute after take off.”

In a following tweet, Flightradar24 said, “Initial ADS-B data from flight #AI171 shows that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with an vertical speed of -475 feet per minute.”