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.

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.”

The captain of the doomed Air India flight that crashed last month likely cut off the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines – with his panicked first officer questioning why just moments before the jet went down,