India's Supreme Court Clears Pilot in Fatal Air Crash

India's Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the pilot of a crashed Air India flight was not responsible for the disaster that killed 260 people, including 52 British nationals, offering solace to the captain's family amid ongoing scrutiny of the investigation.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, operating as Flight AI 128 from Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick Airport, crashed into a hostel at BJ Medical College and Hospital shortly after takeoff on June 12. The aircraft carried 242 passengers and crew, with one survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who sustained impact injuries. An additional 34 people on the ground perished in the collision. A preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, released in July, indicated that the cockpit fuel control switches shifted from the run to cutoff position almost simultaneously just after liftoff, causing both engines to fail. Cockpit voice recordings captured one pilot questioning the other about the switches being turned off, with the response denying any action. About 10 seconds later, the switches returned to the run position in an apparent recovery attempt, restoring partial thrust to one engine, but the plane could not avoid...