How Rajdeep Sardesai’s TikToker guest ‘Steve’ blamed pilots for Air India crash, without a shred of evidence, changed tune after experts pointed to engine failure in Boeing aircraft
Milking tragedies for traction has become an inhuman ‘trend’ in this era of social media. What exacerbates this is the complicity of a section of the mainstream media. An unforgettable tragedy unfolded in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad as a London-bound Air India flight crashed moments after takeoff on 12th June 2025. However, the TRP-hungry Indian television anchors like Rajdeep Sardesai decided to platform an American TikToker and self-proclaimed aviation expert named Captain Steve Scheibner, who changes his opinions faster than a chameleon changes its colour, to determine the cause of the crash.
While the nation was shocked over the crash of the Boeing-manufactured 787 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad and mourning the loss of 241 innocent lives, IndiaToday ‘journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai invited Captain Steve to his show, who blamed Air India 171 pilots for the crash. The pilots of the crashed plane were identified as Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, who had over 9,000 hours of flying experience.
Captain Steve, a former US Navy pilot self-proclaimed aviation expert peddled a conspiracy theory that the pilots may have accidentally retracted the flaps instead of the landing gear during the initial climb. He described this as “a tragic mistake.”
“If that happens, it’s big — and that explains why the aeroplane stopped flying. The lift over the wings died because the flaps were retracted too early,” he said.
Rajdeep Sardesai decided to lap up an American TikToker’s speculation as ‘expert opinion’ and allowed him to peddle lies about Indian pilots who died trying their best till the last to prevent the crash. This was when neither the black box was recovered nor the voice recorder. Also, Sardesai did not even properly question the basis of Captain Steve’s conspiracy theory blaming pilots who are not even alive to defend themselves.
Apparently, Rajdeep Sardesai was awestruck after seeing an American old man with an accent, dressed up in a pilot uniform as if ready to take-off any moment, confidently passing off his speculation as ‘expert opinion’.
Besides blaming the pilots, Captain Steve also suggested power loss, fuel contamination, a bird strike, or flap configuration error as possible causes behind the crash. Not only IndiaToday, but CNBC-TV18, and several other mainstream media channels invited the American pilot-turned-TikToker, to blame Air India pilots without a shred of evidence.
Interestingly, in his YouTube videos and during his multiple appearances on Indian news channels, Captain Steve ruled out an immediate twin-engine failure. “We can see both engines. There’s no indication they’re not producing thrust — no sparks, no flames. Everything looked smooth,” Steve said.
Indian mainstream media gave airtime to a conspiracy theorist: Sensationalism over sensitivity
It happens only in India that a social media influencer gets significant airtime on major television news channels and digital media platforms to discuss a deadly airplane crash, all while posing as an ‘expert’ although armed not with facts but speculations and conspiracy theories.
Captain Steve initially posited that the crash might have been caused from a simple pilot error, suggesting that co-pilot Clive Kunder may have mistakenly raised the flaps instead of retracting the landing gear, causing a loss of lift.
The mainstream media not only in India but also in Britain widely aired Captain Steve’s theory, putting an immediate blame on the pilots without any evidence from the ongoing investigation and ripping the professional reputation of the two pilots posthumously.
Boeing and aviation tragedies
None of the prime-time anchors questioned the basis of Steve’s claims, placing blind faith in his self-declared ‘expertise’. News anchors like Rajdeep Sardesai mindlessly offered a platform to Captain Steve to push his Boeing-friendly agenda and deflect scrutiny from mechanical or manufacturing issues.
Notably, the catastrophic incident has once again highlighted Boeing’s association with yet another tragic aviation event. Its stock was down about 5% on 12th June when New York stock markets closed. Last year, the company struggled with a safety crisis, quality control problems and a disastrous seven-week strike by the wrokers that cost it around $1 billion each month.
Boeing continues to cope with the fallout from two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019, which claimed 346 lives. Last month, the firm and the Department of Justice came to an agreement that would exempt it from criminal liability for the crashes.
From platforming social media influencers like Captain Steve, flashing AI-generated visuals of former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani seated in the ill-fated plane to shoving mics in the face of grieving families of all those who lost their lives in this incident, Indian media has totally abandoned seriousness and sensitivity that such heart-wrenching tragedies deserve.
Sardesai and big media outlets like IndiaToday essentially allowed Captain Steve’s speculative narrative gain traction through their program just because of his polished presentation as an aviation expert, despite the fact that his primary visibility comes from social media rather than active role in crash investigations. Apparently, filling the prime-time with sensationalized narrative devoid of facts and sensitivity even in the face of a tragedy, trumped substantiated reporting and journalistic ethics.
Captain Steve takes U-turn after more facts emerge about the cause of the Air India crash
As if platforming a social media influencer as an unmatched aviation expert was not embarrassing enough, Captain Steve decided to further embarrass the ilk of Rajdeep Sardesai by changing tunes about the cause of Air India crash. After new evidence surfaced, especially a clearer video showing the deployment of the ram air turbine (RAT) on the aircraft, Captain Steve quickly shifted his stance.
In a YouTube video, Steve pointed to dual engine failure as the citing the RAT’s activation, the lone survivor’s account of a loud bang and flickering lights, and reports of the pilot’s mayday call indicating loss of thrust. Captain Steve conveniently changed tunes, after hogging media attention, garnered global viewership and boosted his social media following all on the basis of his ‘pilot-error’ hypothesis.
Media outlets achieved increased viewership but at the cost of pushing false narrative, especially in the aftermath of a tragedy. This, however, was a disgraceful mockery and humiliation of the victims of the tragedy and their families.
While Captain Steve was chasing media headlines and social media clout, the mainstream media chased rhetoric to fill prime-time and declare instant judgment. Sardesai and several other news anchors chose to rely on the speculative commentary of a social media influencer sitting in the United States, sidelining local aviation professionals who could have provided more contextually relevant insights.
It, however, has become a norm for the television news channels to prioritise speed over accuracy, sensationalism over sensitivity, rhetoric over facts, clout-chasing social media influencer over a reliable expert, and TRP over ethics and empathy.
This shamelessness peaked when Rajdeep Sardesai after giving airtime to a TikToker whose aviation credentials are overshadowed by his dramatic social media commentary, to peddle conspiracy theories, put up a post saying “Too many ‘experts’ injurious to health.”
“Important: Captain Steve now changes his theory on Flight AI 171. Says ‘dual engine failure’ most likely cause. Qs remains: why would 787 BOTH engines flame up suddenly? Net-net:Too many ‘experts’ injurious to health. Best to wait for black box reveal,” Sardesai wrote on X.
Imagine, it takes an embarrassing tune change of a self-proclaimed ‘expert’ Sardesai platformed on his show to realise that ‘too many experts are injurious to health’, probably Sardesai knew that such experts may be injurious to health but not beneficial for TRPs. Also, what a timely realisation that waiting for black box reveal instead of furthering conspiracy theories is best thing to do.
Notably, Steve Scheibner is a former US Navy pilot, who once flew P-3 aircraft, and is now a commercial pilot with a significant following on social media. Captain Steve has over 6 lakh 20 thousand subscribers on YouTube. For his TikTok and YouTube videos, Steve hands out paper and pens, inviting passengers to jot down their questions for him to answer. He then offers technical and funny answers to their questions and puts up those videos on his social media handles and YouTube.
Incidentally, earlier this year, the American Airlines pilot was rebuked by the Delhi Air Traffic Controller (ATC) or not taxiing fast enough at Indira Gandhi International Airport. Steve was reprimanded for taxiing at 12 knots while at maximum gross weight. The aircraft was then directed to a “penalty box” – a holding area away from active runways. In a YouTube video, published on 25th March 2025, Captain Steve boasted how, despite being rebuked by Delhi ATC, he remained adamant about not taxiing fast.
Conclusion
Indian media channels could have called Indian aviation professionals, including retired commercial pilots to objectively analyse the potential causes of the crash, if at all, it was so necessary, to do so instead of waiting for authorities reveal black box data.
However, suffering from the ‘American ne bola hai toh theek hi hoga’ syndrome, the Indian mainstream media and alleged journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai chose to recklessly platform someone may be a aviation professional but was as speculative about the Air India crash as any other social media user with no aviation background or expertise.
Probably, they thought a pilot uniform-donning American ‘expert’ would come across as more credible than anyone else, even Indian aviation experts.
By amplifying unverified and unreliable voices as well as their conspiracy theories, the mainstream media not only disrespected the victims of the tragedy but also undermined their own credibility or whatever remaining shreds of it, while the country mourns the innocent lives lost.
As long as the media falls for the temptation of quick narratives and sensationalism just to garner viewership or fill airtime, they will continue parading social media influencers as authorities and experts, only to get embarrassed and backtrack later.
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