Air India Crash Families Sue Boeing, Honeywell In Delaware Court

India-West News Desk

WILMINGTON, DE – The families of four victims of June’s Air India crash have filed a lawsuit in Delaware, accusing aerospace giants Boeing and Honeywell of negligence that they say contributed to the disaster.

The complaint, lodged in the superior court on September 16, seeks damages for the deaths of Kantaben Dhirubhai Paghadal, Naavya Chirag Paghadal, Kuberbhai Patel, and Babiben Patel, who were among the 260 people killed when Air India flight 171 went down shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad en route to London.

The suit alleges that a faulty fuel cutoff switch, manufactured by Honeywell and installed by Boeing on the 787-8 Dreamliner, could be inadvertently disengaged due to its design and placement in the cockpit. Families argue this defect allowed the loss of fuel supply and thrust needed for takeoff.

Investigators, however, have not reached a definitive conclusion about the cause. A preliminary report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau in July indicated Air India had skipped recommended inspections and showed that the throttle control module was replaced twice in recent years. A cockpit recording also suggested the captain manually cut fuel flow to the engines, though aviation safety experts told Reuters that the switches are unlikely to be flipped by accident because of their location and design.

The investigation has so far pointed away from mechanical failure. FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said in July he had a “high level of confidence” that neither a defect nor an inadvertent movement of the fuel controls caused the crash.

 While the AAIB’s initial findings appeared to exonerate Boeing and GE Aerospace, families accuse regulators and media of focusing too narrowly on pilot error.

Legal specialists told Reuters that suing manufacturers is a common strategy in aviation cases, since airlines enjoy liability protections that corporations do not. The Delaware suit marks the first known case in the U.S. tied to the Air India tragedy, which killed 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground. One passenger survived. The plaintiffs are citizens of India and the United Kingdom.