Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) is facing renewed legal challenges after families of victims from a deadly crash in India filed suit against the aerospace giant and Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ:HON).
The families of four victims from the catastrophic Air India Flight 171 crash have filed a product defect and negligence lawsuit in Delaware Superior Court. The suit claims that a defective fuel cutoff switch caused the June disaster, which killed 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground.
According to the lawsuit, flight data indicates that an Air India pilot inadvertently shut off fuel to the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner’s engines, causing a complete loss of thrust shortly after takeoff.
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The suit claims the fuel cutoff switch, which was manufactured by Honeywell and installed by Boeing, is designed with a locking mechanism to prevent such accidental operation.
However, the switch is located in a “high traffic” area, adjacent to the thrust levers that pilots constantly manipulate during takeoff.
The lawsuit further asserts that both Honeywell and Boeing knew the locking mechanism could easily be turned off inadvertently or could be missing altogether.
This claim is supported by a 2018 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, which confirmed that Boeing and Honeywell knew the switches were being delivered with the locking mechanism disengaged, allowing for “unintended” fuel cutoff mid-flight.
Despite this knowledge, the lawsuit alleges there is no evidence the companies notified Air India or other customers of the danger or shipped replacement switches for installation.
“It is shocking that Honeywell and Boeing both knew of this danger and did absolutely nothing to prevent the inevitable catastrophe that occurred on June 12,” said Benjamin Major of The Lanier Law Firm, co-counsel for the families.
He likened the defect to an auto manufacturer “putting an unprotected emergency brake control next to a radio volume knob” and added, “Once these engines shut down, that plane basically became a 250,000-pound lawn dart.”
The lawsuit details how both fuel cutoff switches on Flight 171 suddenly and inadvertently moved from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” just three seconds after liftoff, completely severing the fuel supply.
A cockpit voice recorder captured a brief exchange between the pilots, confirming that neither intended to shut off the fuel. Despite their attempts to restore power, there was not enough time for the engines to restart before the Dreamliner crashed.
The crew transmitted a Mayday call, and six seconds later, the aircraft struck multiple buildings just a nautical mile from the end of the runway.
The families are seeking compensatory and punitive damages from both defendants for the wrongful deaths of passengers Kantaben Dhirubhai Paghadal, Naavya Chirag Paghadal, Kuberbhai Patel, and Babiben Patel.
Price Action: BA shares are trading higher by 0.64% to $216.00 premarket at last check Thursday.
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Photo by Vytautas Kielaitis via Shutterstock
