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Fuel cutoff switch and negligence blamed

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260 people died from crash of Flight 171

By Jonathan Stempel

Sept 17 (Reuters) - The families of four passengers who

died in the June crash of Air India Flight 171 sued Boeing ( BA )

and Honeywell ( HON ), blaming their negligence and a

faulty fuel cutoff switch for the accident, which killed 260

people.

Flight 171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad en

route to London on June 12.

In a complaint filed on Tuesday in Delaware Superior Court,

the plaintiffs said the locking mechanism for the switch on the

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner could be turned off inadvertently or

missing, causing a loss of fuel supply and loss of thrust needed

for takeoff.

They said Boeing ( BA ) and Honeywell ( HON ), which respectively installed

and manufactured the switch, knew about that risk, especially

after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration cautioned in 2018

about disengaged locking mechanisms on several Boeing ( BA ) aircraft.

By putting the switch directly behind thrust levers, "Boeing ( BA )

effectively guaranteed that normal cockpit activity could result

in inadvertent fuel cutoff." the complaint said. "What did

Honeywell ( HON ) and Boeing ( BA ) do to prevent the inevitable catastrophe?

Nothing."

Boeing ( BA ), based in Arlington, Virginia, declined to comment on

Wednesday. Honeywell ( HON ), based in Charlotte, North Carolina, did

not immediately respond to requests for comment. Both companies

are incorporated in Delaware.

The lawsuit appears to be the first in the United States

over the crash.

It seeks unspecified damages for the deaths of Kantaben

Dhirubhai Paghadal, Naavya Chirag Paghadal, Kuberbhai Patel and

Babiben Patel, who were among the 229 passengers who died.

Twelve crew members and 19 people on the ground were also

killed. One passenger survived. The plaintiffs are citizens of

India or the United Kingdom, and live in one of those countries.

Indian, UK and American investigators have not conclusively

determined the crash's cause.

A preliminary report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation

Bureau in July depicted confusion in the cockpit before the

crash.

Also in July, Bryan Bedford, the administrator of the U.S. FAA,

expressed a "high level of confidence" that a mechanical problem

or inadvertent movement of fuel control components were not to

blame.

Boeing ( BA ) incurred more than $20 billion of legal and other costs

from two fatal crashes of its 737 MAX aircraft in 2018 and 2019.

The best-selling plane was grounded for 20 months.

The case is Paghadal et al v Boeing Co ( BA ) et al, Delaware

Superior Court, No. N25C-09-145.