Captain Kapil Kohal, a long-time friend and fellow Air India pilot, called Sabharwal “sad sack” but remembered him as a “hero” with a “gentle soul”. “He was my senior at flying school and later in Air India. We called him ‘Sad Sack’ because of his melancholic eyes, but he was deeply charismatic and always ready to help.”

A cockpit recording of dialogue between pilots supports the view the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane's engines, said a source briefed on U.S. officials' early assessment of evidence.

A cockpit voice recording of doomed Air India Flight 171 indicates that it was the younger co-pilot who asked his more experienced colleague why he turned off the plane’s fuel-supply switches, according to people familiar with the matter.