Families sue Boeing, Honeywell over June Air India crash

Four of the passengers who were killed in the Air India Boeing 787 crash on June 12 filed a lawsuit alleging that allegedly defective fuel switches, which the US Federal Aviation Administration claimed do not appear to have caused the incident, which left 260 people dead.

Boeing and Honeywell, the makers of the switches, are held responsible for the crash seconds after Flight 171 departed Ahmedabad from India, according to the lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Delaware Superior Court.

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The plaintiffs point to a 2018 FAA advisory that advised, but did not instruct, operators of a number of Boeing models, including the 787, to check the locking mechanism of the fuel cutoff switches to prevent unintentionally moving them.

According to Air India’s (AAIB) preliminary investigation report into the crash, the aircraft’s pilot had not carried out the recommended inspections and maintenance records indicated that the throttle control module, which included the fuel switches, had been replaced on the aircraft involved in the crash in 2019 and 2023.

According to the report, “the aircraft as well as the engines were adhered to all applicable airworthiness directives and alert service bulletins.”

Honeywell did not respond to a request for comment right away, and Boeing declined to comment.

The captain may have cut the fuel flow to the aircraft’s engines, according to a cockpit recording of the conversation between the two pilots.

The lawsuit claims that the switches are located in a position in the cockpit where they were more likely to accidentally push, which “effectively guaranteed that typical cockpit behavior could lead to an accidental fuel cutoff.”

However, according to aviation safety experts, due to their location and design, they couldn’t be unintentionally flipped.

The crash-related lawsuit is reportedly the first in the country.

The deaths of Kantaben Dhirubhai Paghadal, Naavya Chirag Paghadal, Kuberbhai Patel, and Babiben Patel, among whom 229 people died, are subject to unspecified damages.

Additionally, 19 people on the ground and 12 crew members perished. One passenger was saved. The plaintiffs reside in either India or the UK and are citizens of both countries.

Boeing and GE Aerospace were found not guilty in the preliminary report released by Indian investigators, but some family groups have criticized the investigators and the press for being too focused on the pilots’ actions.

Legal experts claim that manufacturers are frequently targeted by attorneys representing victims’ families because they do not have the same level of liability protection as airlines because most accidents are caused by a combination of factors. These tactics can also increase the likelihood of using US courts, which are generally accepted to be more accepting of plaintiffs than many foreign courts.