UK-based Keystone Law’s Aviation team said it continues its investigation into the potential causes of the Air India 171 plane crash tragedy after being formally retained by British families who lost loved ones.
The team’s two specific areas of concern relate to the cause of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployment, and then the sequential loss of thrust in both engines. Keystone said its aviation partners, James Healy-Pratt and Owen Hanna, are working closely with many British families in relation to the coronial process, as well as the London lawyers appointed by Air India and its aviation insurers dealing with interim payments.
James Healy-Pratt commented: “This is an incredibly sensitive time for the AI 171 families, and we are supporting them through the various processes in the UK and the US. On the air safety aspects, our technical investigation team believes that the RAT was automatically deployed. This suggests a serious systems failure around the critical point of take-off.
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“Serious questions will need to be asked of both Air India and Boeing once the preliminary report is published in the coming weeks. The families of AI 171 want truth and justice, and we stand in solidarity with them.”
With over 33 years of international aviation legal experience, Healy-Pratt and Hanna are said to have independently investigated hundreds of aviation accidents and recovered over $1 billion in settlements. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy on June 12, the law firm had cautioned British families to be mindful that cremated remains repatriated to the UK do not automatically result in a Coroner’s Inquest.
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“This is because cremated ashes do not constitute a body under coronial law. This has been an issue we have experienced in previous overseas aviation accidents with British families. Concerned families should seek urgent advice before any decision is made in relation to cremation in India,” said Healy-Pratt.
AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport when it crashed in Gujarat last month. Several British Indian families have been impacted as 52 of the 53 UK citizens on board lost their lives in the tragic crash.
