Quote:
...based on the distance of the flight, this plane should have had three crew...
Not really, the route is only ~9 hours westbound, well within limits for 2 crew.
I don't believe this scheduled 9:15 hour flight leaving at 2:05am would be legal for 2-crew under FAA rules. Of course the DGCA's may differ. See
ALPA, Intl. FastRead