Families of the victims of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad are urging authorities to release the aircraft’s two flight recorders without delay, warning that the wait is eroding their faith in the investigation. Some families have engaged US-based lawyer Mike Andrews of the Beasley Allen Law Firm, who is representing 65 families considering legal action against Air India and Boeing, the aircraft’s manufacturer. On Friday, Andrews met relatives of victims in Vadodara, Gujarat, after visiting the crash site, according to a report by AFP.
A preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) revealed that fuel to the jet’s engines was cut off moments before impact. The report did not assign blame but noted a chilling exchange in the cockpit: one pilot asked the other why fuel was cut, and the second pilot denied doing so.
Families call for black box data
“We are formally demanding the immediate release of the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder – the black box,” the news agency reported quoting Imtiaz Ali Sayed, who lost several family members in the crash. “These devices contain vital information that can reveal the truth behind this horrific tragedy.”
Sayed’s younger brother, his wife and their two children died in the crash. Speaking for 60 families, he said, “Every day without answers deepens the pain of our loss and erodes public trust in aviation safety.”
“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.
June 12 tragedy
On June 12, a London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad in western India, killing all 241 passengers and crew. Another 19 people on the ground also lost their lives in the disaster.