Boeing 787 Software May Have Caused AI Crash: Aviation Expert

Mary Schiavo warns Air India crash may involve Boeing 787's software-triggered engine thrust rollback malfunction.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

In a wide-ranging exclusive conversation with The Sunday Guardian, Mary Schiavo—who served as Inspector General of the United States Department of Transportation and is now a veteran aviation attorney with Motley Rice, one of the largest and most prominent plaintiffs' law firms in the United States—raised serious concerns that the crash of Air India Flight AI-171 may have been caused by a computer-triggered engine thrust rollback, similar to a known software malfunction in Boeing 787 aircraft previously investigated by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Her experience with major, complex aviation litigation includes more than 50 cases on behalf of the family members of the passengers and crew of all the planes hijacked on September 11, 2001. Under Schiavo's direction, the agency investigated air safety, crimes, and disasters; secured more than 1,000 criminal convictions; and exposed billions of dollars of fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer money. She testified before Congress multiple times on transportation safety, security, budgeting, and infrastructure.

Drawing on decades of aviation litigation experience, including major crash probes around the world, Schiavo warned of the risks of Boeing's involvement in its own investigations and offered specific recommendations for India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

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