Who were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal & First Officer Clive Kunder, pilots of ill-fated AI171?

The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane Flight AI-171 that met with a devastating fate on Thursday, just minutes after take-off from the city airport, was steered by highly experienced and seasoned pilots, both of whom had flying experience of running into thousands of hours. 

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal

The wide-body aircraft was operated by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal with about 8,200 hours of flying experience. Sabharwal lived with his father in Jal Vayu Vihar Society in Powai, Mumbai.

Those who knew him, hailed Sabharwal for his professional and peaceful behaviour and spotless career.

Sanjeev Kashinath Pai, a family friend of Sumeet Sabharwal, told PTI, “Sumeet was an experienced pilot. Air India has faced a setback with his death. He was a professional and of peaceful nature. His work was so fine that no one found a fault in his career till now. His behaviour with people was good.”

A man of good morale, Sabharwal was a resident of Jal Vayu Vihar for the last 15 years.

“I knew Sumeet for the past 15 years, from the time he came here to live. We used to keep meeting. When he was not flying then he was home and used to participate in social activities of the society. I had a good friendship with him, he was a man of good morale,” Pai said.

Pai said that he last met Sabharwal four days ago when he had come down for a walk.

“I had friends with his parents. His father was in aviation industry and his mother died three years ago. He has a sister who stays in Delhi, she has flown to Mumbai yesterday and is staying with her father here.”

First Officer Clive Kunder

First Officer Clive Kunder, the 32-year-old second in-command, had the flying experience of 1,100 hours.

Living in Mumbai’s Borivali, flying came naturally to him. Kunder’s mother was a flight attendant and the First Officer’s childhood was spent in the Air India colony in Kalina.

Kunder had completed his aircraft maintenance course at Bombay Flying Club in Juhu, as per reports.

After the incident, actor Vikrant Massey expressed grief over losing Kunder, a family friend, “My heart breaks for the families & loved ones of the ones who lost their lives in the unimaginably tragic air crash in Ahmedabad today. It pains even more to know that my uncle, Clifford Kunder lost his son, Clive Kunder who was the 1st officer operating on that fateful flight.”

“May God give strength to you and your family uncle and to all deeply affected,” he added.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the passenger plane crashed immediately after take-off from Runway 23 of Ahmedabad.

As per ATC, the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It gave a mayday call to the ATC soon after takeoff, however, it gave no response after calls were made by the ATC.

The London-bound aircraft was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board. Out of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals.

Officials have not released any information about the number of casualties or survivors, however, the intensity of crash and the aircraft turning into a ball of fire has raised serious doubts about prospects of anyone being alive.

The flight, which took off at 1.39 p.m. crashed just minutes after take-off. It could barely climb 625 meters in the air before coming crashing down on a students’ hostel in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu is personally monitoring the situation. Air India has also set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information.

The Civil Aviation Ministry also set up an operational control room to coordinate all details pertaining to AI-171 crash. It also shared the given phone number - 011-24610843 | 9650391859 for the common public to reach out and seek details.