The families of the four victims from the Air India crash earlier this year are holding a faulty fuel switch responsible for the tragedy that claimed 260 lives. In a recent lawsuit in the US, they identified Boeing and Honeywell as potentially liable parties.
Air India Flight 171 departed from Ahmedabad, India, heading to London on June 12. A preliminary report from the Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) revealed that mere seconds after takeoff, both engine fuel cutoff switches transitioned from “run” to “cutoff,” leading to flames erupting from both engines.
The lawsuit highlights a 2018 advisory from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that suggested, though it didn’t mandate, that operators of certain Boeing models—including the 787—implement measures to prevent misdirection of the fuel cutoff switches. This complaint was lodged in Delaware Superior Court on Tuesday.
The AIIB’s preliminary findings also indicated that Air India hadn’t performed the recommended inspections and that the throttle control module, alongside the fuel switch, had been replaced on the aircraft involved in the crash during 2019 and 2023.
Interestingly, the FAA had issued a special Aircraft Information Breaking News (SAIB) number NM-18-33 in December 2018 concerning the potential release of the lock function for the fuel-control switch.
The lawsuit claims that due to the location of the switch in the cockpit, it could easily be inadvertently activated, suggesting that normal cockpit activities might lead to unintended fuel reductions.
Despite this, aviation safety experts shared with Reuters that such switches shouldn’t be able to flip based solely on their location and design. The AAIB report also touched on the specifics of the situation, revealing an audio exchange in the cockpit where one pilot cut off fuel to another, to which the other pilots responded they were unaware of the action.
While Boeing referred to the report, they did not provide further commentary. Honeywell couldn’t be reached for immediate comment.
