Families of four passengers killed in the Air India flight 171 crash have launched a suit in the U.S. against Boeing and aircraft parts maker Honeywell, alleging that a defective fuel control switch led to the disaster.
At the same time, the father of one of the pilots has demanded a fresh investigation, saying preliminary findings unjustly damaged his son’s reputation.
Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed on 12 June in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad less than a minute after taking off.
The crash, India’s deadliest aviation disaster in decades, killed 229 passengers, 12 crew members and 19 people on the ground. Only one passenger survived.
The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Superior Court on Tuesday, states that the Boeing aircraft’s fuel switches could inadvertently have been flipped to “cut-off” because of their design.
It argues that by placing the switches behind the thrust levers, “Boeing effectively guaranteed that normal cockpit activity could result in inadvertent fuel cut-off”.
It asks: “What did Honeywell and Boeing do to prevent the inevitable catastrophe? Nothing.”
The plaintiffs say the switches, manufactured by Honeywell and installed by Boeing, had been identified as a risk years earlier.
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued an advisory in 2018 urging airlines to inspect locking mechanisms on multiple Boeing aircraft after similar disengagements were discovered. It did not make the checks mandatory though.
The families, represented by the Lanier Law Firm in Texas, are seeking unspecified damages for the deaths of Kantaben Dhirubhai Paghadal, Naavya Chirag Paghadal, Kuberbhai Patel, and Babiben Patel in the crash.
The Independent has reached out to Honeywell for comment.
In response to an email seeking comment about the lawsuit, Boeing told The Independent: “Consistent with U.S. law and the UN International Civil Aviation Organization protocol known as Annex 13, we will refer you to the AAIB and the preliminary report for any additional information.”
AAIB is India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, which published a preliminary report in July suggesting that both fuel control switches had moved from “run” to the “cut-off” position within one second of each other moments after take-off, starving the engines. The report noted confusion in the cockpit but did not state whether the pilots had physically moved the switches.
The report angered the family of Sumeet Sabharwal, the captain of the doomed flight. His father, Pushkaraj Sabharwal, has now written to the Indian civil aviation ministry demanding a formal inquiry under sections of the Aircraft Investigation of Accidents and Incidents Rules, 2017. This rule allows the government to order an independent probe even while an AAIB investigation is ongoing.
In his letter, Mr Sabharwal, 91, said selective leaks from the preliminary report wrongly suggested his son was depressed and could have crashed the aircraft deliberately. Such speculation was “deficient, diversionary and discrepant” and violated his son’s fundamental right to reputation under India’s constitution, the Indian Express reported. He rejected claims that the late pilot’s divorce 15 years earlier or his mother’s death three years ago had affected his mental health.
He noted that his son had over 15,600 hours of flying experience, including over 8,500 hours on the Boeing 787-8, and had operated nearly 100 flights since his mother’s death without incident. He also highlighted that his son was a certified pilot trainer with an unblemished 25-year record.
Mr Sabharwal drew parallels with the crashes of Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft in 2018 and 2019, following which investigators found the American company had withheld information about changes to its flight control software.
For both those accidents, he noted, the pilots had been blamed before Boeing admitted fault.
He demanded that any new inquiry be led by a retired Supreme Court judge and include independent experts and pilot representatives. He warned that he would pursue legal action if the government failed to respond within a week.
The AAIB has urged the public and the media not to draw premature conclusions, emphasising that its investigation is ongoing and a final report isn’t expected until 2026.
