The preliminary finding gives investigators a new line of inquiry as they study a crash that killed all but one of the plane’s passengers.

An Air India Boeing 787-8 flight headed for New Delhi returned to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff Monday because of a "technical issue," Indian media reported.

The parents of Sumeet Sabharwal, one of the pilots aboard the ill-fated Air India 171 flight, mourned his loss as his body was brought home to Mumbai on Tuesday (June 17). Sabharwal was the senior pilot on board the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner,

Relatives and neighbors gather outside the Powai residence as the mortal remains of captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who died in the ill-fated Air India flight, arrives home on June 17, 2025 in Mumbai, India

The pilot on the Air India plane that crashed saved the lives of 18 families by steering his failing Boeing 787 Dreamliner away from their apartment building in Ahmedabad. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal diverted the doomed aircraft at the last possible moment despite catastrophic engine failure after take-off.