
- Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder died in an Air India plane crash.
- Captain Sabharwal had 8,300 flight hours; First Officer Kunder had 1,100 hours of experience.
- A Mayday call was issued shortly before the plane lost contact at 825 feet.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder were among 241 passengers and crew killed in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon. Together, they had 9,300 hours of flying experience. The two were flying an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, with 230 passengers and 10 crew members on board to London's Gatwick Airport. However, the plane crashed within 32 seconds of take-off. Only one British-Indian passenger, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, survived the crash.
It is not just 241 lives lost, but hundreds of dreams shattered and hopes of families crushed under the debris of the plane crash.
The seasoned pilot, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, had 8,200 hours of flying experience. A resident of Powai, Mr Sabharwal, had reportedly promised his father that he would quit his job and take care of him full time. Mr Sabharwal was single and lived with his nonagenarian father. "Only a few days ago, he told his father that he would be quitting his job to look after him full time," said Shiv Sena lawmaker Dilip Lande, who had come to the Sabharwals' home to condole, reported The Times of India.
Sabharwals are deeply connected to the aviation industry, said the neighbours. Captain Sabharwal's father retired from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), while his two nephews are also pilots.
"Whenever he flew out, Sumeet would ask us to keep an eye on his father. He has now been left devastated," a neighbour told the Hindustan Times.
Co-pilot and First Officer Clive Kunder had 1,100 hours of flying experience. He, too, comes from a family of aviation enthusiasts, with his mother being a former Air India flight attendant.
Mr Kunder's parents are currently in Sydney, visiting their daughter.
Actor Vikrant Massey condoled the death of Mr Kunder, son of his uncle, Clifford Kunder. In a post on Instagram, Mr Massey wrote, "My heart breaks for the families and 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 first officer operating on that fateful flight. May god give strength to you and your family, uncle and to all deeply affected."
The pilot, Captain Sabharwal, issued a "Mayday" call to Air Traffic Control shortly before the plane lost contact, said DGCA. A "Mayday" call is a distress signal used primarily in aviation and maritime communication to indicate a life-threatening emergency.
The flight departed at 1:38 pm from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The failure to achieve the lift happened at a very low altitude of 825 feet, resulting to a crash and boeing bursting into a ball of fire.
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