A sombre crowd gathered outside a residential building in Mumbai’s Powai locality as 88-year-old Pushkarraj Sabharwal, with trembling hands and moist eyes, stood in silence to bid a final farewell to his son, Captain Sumit Sabharwal, the pilot of the ill-fated Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. The veteran aviator’s mortal remains were handed over to the family on Monday. A video from the scene shows the grieving father folding his hands and watching his son’s coffin with quiet, devastating sorrow. The dignified but heartbreaking gesture left many in tears.
Sabharwal among 242 killed in tragic Ahmedabad air crash
Capt Sabharwal was commanding Air India’s London-bound flight AI-171 when it crashed moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing 242 people on board and 29 others on the ground. The aircraft struck a medical complex near the runway after issuing a MAYDAY call. The DGCA said there was no further communication from the cockpit after the distress call. Sabharwal and his co-pilot, First Officer Clive Kundar were killed instantly in the accident.
A father left behind — and a dream unfulfilled
Sabharwal’s father, Pushkarraj, broke down as the body was brought home. “He was my support in old age… and now he’s gone,” he told a relative. Family members said Sabharwal often spoke about taking retirement soon to care for his elderly father. That dream, like the flight, came crashing down. “He always said, ‘Now it’s time to give back to the one who raised me.’ But fate didn’t wait,” said a close family friend.
Pilot Sabharwal had issued MAYDAY alert to ATC
Captain Sumit Sabharwal, 60, was a highly experienced pilot with over 8,200 hours of flying experience. Just 50 seconds after takeoff, the aircraft turned into a fireball. Before losing contact, Sabharwal had sent a final distress message to Air Traffic Control, saying, “Mayday, mayday, mayday... no power, no thrust, going down.” Moments later, the aircraft lost communication and crashed into a doctors’ hostel, erupting in flames.
Final rites held in Chakala, tributes pour in
The pilot’s funeral procession left from Powai for the Chakala electric crematorium in the afternoon. Local MLA Dilip Lande and industrialist Niranjan Hiranandani were among those who visited the family to pay their respects.
Sabharwal’s father, still reeling from the loss, remained composed through the ceremony. But those present said his silence spoke volumes: of love, of heartbreak, and a future lost too soon.