Keystone Law, a leading London-based law firm, has raised two ‘extremely serious’ issues around the recent Air India AI171 crash that happened just after take-off from Ahmedabad three weeks ago, resulting in 260 fatalities. This follows the firm announcing that it has been formally retained by a number of British families who lost loved ones in the tragedy.
The company stated that these families want to know, particularly once the preliminary results of the investigation are made available later this month.
Twist on Focus on Key Technical Setbacks
A PTI report said that Keystone Law’s aviation group, which has collaborated with global aviation professionals, is focusing its efforts on two broad areas: the “cause of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployment, and then the sequential loss of thrust in both engines.”
James Healy-Pratt and Owen Hanna, the aviation partners of the firm, are said to be ‘working closely’ with approximately 20 British families. They are helping with the coronial process in the UK as well as liaison with the London lawyers for Air India and its insurers regarding issues such as interim compensation.
“This is a very emotional period for the AI171 families, and we are standing by them during the various procedures in the UK and the US,” Healy-Pratt said to PTI. “On the air safety issues, our technical investigation team is of the view that the RAT was auto-deployed. This indicates a serious systems failure around the point of take-off criticality.”
Awaiting Preliminary Report
Healy-Pratt emphasized the current priority of the law firm is the coming preliminary investigation report. “We’re preparing our families for a number of possibilities, depending on the evidence, because we’ve always been very transparent in that we tell our clients our advice is evidence-based,” he clarified.
He went on to say, “We’ve concentrated on why the RAT was fired and why there was insufficient thrust. Those are the two main issues our families want and need to have answered, and that’s what we expect the Black Boxes will tell us, and there’ll be some reference to that in the initial accident report in 10 days’ time.”
Depending on the results, Healy-Pratt proposed that the “path to justice and truth” would go either to London’s High Court or to the US federal court in Virginia against Boeing.
Assisting Families Across Nations
Keystone Law was initially advising UK-based families impacted by the crash, but it has since been contacted by some Indian families too.
This is a very delicate period for the AI171 families,” Healy-Pratt repeated, highlighting the firm’s work in assisting them through intricate legal and investigation procedures across the Atlantic.
The Air India Tragedy
The disaster involved Air India’s flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner headed to London Gatwick Airport, which crashed on June 12 near the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad.
The crash claimed the lives of 242 passengers and crew, with just one survivor. An additional 19 people on the ground were killed when the aircraft struck the hostel building of BJ Medical College.
The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch and Disaster Victim Identification officers have been helping Indian officials with the technical investigation and DNA identification since 52 British citizens were among the victims of the crash.
