NEW DELHI: It was the night an old and ailing father in Mumbai had the painful realisation that it was going to be futile to wait for his son to come home and take care of him. The son was Sumit Sabharwal, the pilot of the ill-fated Air India flight that crashed killing 241 of the 242 on board on Thursday afternoon.
Sabharwal had phoned his dad before the flight to London. “I’ll call you once I reach London,” he promised.
Sadly, Sabharwal barely made it to the perimeter of the airport before the Dreamliner crashed to the ground.
Three days ago, the younger Sabharwal had a heart-to-heart chat with his dad. The conversation must have thrilled the old man, who lived alone after his wife passed away a couple of years ago. Sumit told him that he wanted to stop flying and take care of his father. The son was a bachelor.
Friends and relatives dropped in to see the father all day.
“Sabharwal must be 55 or 56 years,” said Captain CS Randhawa, president of the Federation of Indian Pilots Association, recalling how he took care of his father.
Sabharwal, a highly experienced pilot, was a Line Training Captain with more than 8,000 hours of flying experience. He was himself involved in safety checks of flights, Captain Randhawa said.
The Association has around 6,000 members, and Sabharwal was one of them. “We push a lot for flight safety, and he was one of us,” he said.
The co-pilot, Clive Kunder, had over 1,000 hours of flying experience, Captain Randhawa said.
On Thursday evening, it emerged that Kunder, the first officer operating on the flight, was 12th Fail actor Vikrant Massey’s friend and one-time neighbour.
“My heart breaks for the families & loved ones of the ones who lost their lives in the unimaginably tragic air crash in Ahmedabad today,” the actor posted on Instagram.
“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,” he added.
Another crew member Deepak Pathak is also from Maharashtra. He is from Badlapur in Thane district. His colleagues say he was experienced in long-haul flying and was quite efficient at work.
His family refused to believe that Deepak died in the crash. His mother said that they are calling Deepak, and his phone is ringing, so they firmly believe that he is alive.
“We are still hopeful that Deepak is alive and he will come back. Deepak used to make the first call home before going anywhere, and he spoke with his mother before leaving for London as a co-pilot,” said the co-pilot family member.
Two of the crew members were also from Maharashtra. Arpan Mahadik is from Goregaon, Mumbai, while Roshani Songhare is from Dombivali. Mahadik is a relative of NCP state president Sunil Tatkare.
Soon after the names of the pilot and crew flashed in the media, Shiv Sena MLA Dilip Lande rushed to the house of Sumit Sabharwal in Powai and met the 88-year-old father, Pushkraj Sabharwal. Lande said the father was waiting for his daughter and two grandchildren to come home to him.