The pilot of the ill-fated Air India Flight 171, which crashed shortly after takeoff last week, is now being hailed as a possible hero in the face of catastrophic failure. While investigations continue into India’s deadliest aviation tragedy in more than thirty years, new speculation suggests that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal may have made a last-second maneuver that spared thousands of lives on the ground.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had just taken off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport en route to London when it suffered a sudden and devastating loss of power. Within seconds, the aircraft descended rapidly, crashing into a hostel that housed medical college students in the densely populated Meghani Nagar neighborhood. Of the 242 souls onboard, only one survived. Tragically, 270 lives were lost—including many on the ground.

On board the flight were Captain Sabharwal, a seasoned pilot nearing retirement, and his co-pilot Officer Clive Kundar, at the beginning of his aviation career. Both men raised a distress call moments after takeoff. Sabharwal’s last known transmission was heartbreaking in its clarity:

<blockquote>“Mayday… no thrust, losing power, unable to lift.”</blockquote>

It was the last anyone heard from the cockpit before the plane struck the hostel and erupted in a fiery explosion, fueled by the heavy load of fuel for the long-haul flight to London.

But even amid this horrific loss, a quiet theory has begun to circulate—one that offers a glimpse of a potentially heroic final decision made in those crucial seconds before impact. According to several online commentators and aviation enthusiasts, Sabharwal may have deliberately veered the aircraft away from a nearby high-density residential area and, more notably, from Civil Hospital Ahmedabad.

Located just over five kilometers from the airport, the hospital is one of the largest in the region, with more than 3,000 beds. Had the plane gone down there, the human toll could have been even more catastrophic. Instead, the crash site landed 1.7 kilometers from the runway in an area with significantly fewer people, though still resulting in devastating casualties, particularly among the medical student population.

One Reddit user posted a chilling breakdown of the geography surrounding the crash:

<blockquote>“The crash occurred in a somewhat loosely populated area with doctor’s hostels and mess facilities for students of BJMC and Civil Hospital Ahmedabad. Just 400 meters north is the civil hospital, and directly south of the airport wall is a packed residential zone.”</blockquote>

Though no official statement has confirmed this potential course correction, the idea that Sabharwal tried to steer the aircraft away from an even worse scenario has resonated with many. In the absence of definitive answers, such details provide a small, bittersweet solace to families and observers grappling with the scope of this tragedy.

Rescue efforts continued through the following days, as did the slow and painful task of identifying victims—many of whom were burned beyond recognition. DNA testing remains the primary method of confirmation, leaving families waiting for closure as authorities work through the backlog.

Meanwhile, both of the aircraft’s black boxes—the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder—have been recovered and are currently being analyzed by investigators. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu emphasized the importance of these devices, stating they would be key to understanding exactly what caused the engine failure that brought the Dreamliner down just seconds into its flight.

<blockquote>“This marks an important step forward,” Naidu said. “The findings from the black boxes will significantly aid the inquiry.”</blockquote>

For now, the cause of the crash remains unknown, but the potential heroism of Captain Sabharwal has ignited emotional tributes across social media. What’s clear is that in his final moments, he did everything he could in the face of impossible odds.

May all those lost in the crash of Flight 171 rest in peace.