Air India pilot's haunting final words before fateful flight that killed 260
The chilling final words of the captain of the doomed Air India flight - which crashed and killed 260 people - have been revealed.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, was the senior pilot on the flight bound for London Gatwick when it plummeted just minutes after it took off on June 12. Sabharwal was known to be an experienced pilot with over 8,200 hours of flying time, but a preliminary report has now turned its attention to the veteran aviator. The bombshell report suggested two fuel switches were moved from "Run" to "Cutoff", starving the engine of fuel. Indian investigators revealed what worrying recordings from the cockpit caught before the plane crashed.
The preliminary report said: "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." Investigators said the fuel switches were switched off right after takeoff and the landing gear was not raised.
While authorities are working to determine whether this was an accident or malicious, the senior pilot's haunting final words, before he left home for the doomed flight, have been revealed.
Sabharwal reportedly spoke to a bodyguard at his apartment complex, where his elderly dad also lived, shortly before leaving for the airport on June 12. The lead pilot allegedly said: "Please take care of papa. I will be back soon."
Lokhande, the guard, recalled what is now believed to be the pilot's final words at his home in Mumbai. He said: "I can't forget that last moment, when he ran his hand through his hair, like he always did, and said, 'How are you Mr Lokhande. Please, take care of papa, and I will be back soon."
'He smiled and went away. You'd never guess he carried any sadness inside.'
This comes after Sabharwal's elderly father revealed his son made a heartbreaking promise just a week before the fatal flight. Sumeet's elderly father said the pilot promised to take a break from work so he could spend more time with his family. Indian politician Dilip Mama Lande, a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, had shared details of the heart-wrenching phone call.
The politician said: "A few days ago, he promised to take a break to spend time with his father." The pilot's dad is believed to have been a former official at the India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, according to the Times of India.
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