Families of Air India crash victims demand release of flight recorders
A total of 241 people on board the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner were killed when the plane crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad in western India on Jun 12. Another 19 people were killed on the ground.
A preliminary report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said fuel to the jet's engines was cut off moments before impact.
The report did not reach any conclusions or assign blame, but indicated that based on the cockpit voice recording, one pilot asked the other why he had cut off fuel. The second pilot replied that he had not.
CALL FOR BLACK BOX RELEASE
"We are formally demanding the immediate release of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder – the black box," said Imtiaz Ali Sayed, a family member of several victims.
"These devices contain vital information that can reveal the truth behind this horrific tragedy," he said in a media statement.
Sayed, whose younger brother, sister-in-law and two children were killed in the crash, said he was speaking on behalf of 60 families "who share the same pain and unanswered questions".
"Every day without answers deepens the pain of our loss and erodes public trust in aviation safety," he said.
POTENTIAL LEGAL ACTION
Some families are considering legal action against Air India and Boeing, the US manufacturer of the aircraft, their lawyer said.
Mike Andrews of the US-based Beasley Allen Law Firm, representing 65 families from India and Britain, met relatives in Vadodara city, south of Ahmedabad, on Friday after visiting the crash site.
"Suppose the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder indicate that there is a defect with the aircraft... in that case, the options are to bring a defective product or a product liability claim in the United States for those claims," Andrews told reporters.
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