Indonesia plane crash victim's family sue Boeing

Washington, Nov 16 (IANS) The parents of a passenger who was onboard the Lion Air flight that crashed into the Java Sea last month killing 189 people, have sued Boeing for its alleged "unsafe design" of the 737 Max 8 aircraft.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, where Boeing is headquartered, centres on a new safety feature that can cause the 737 Max 8 aircraft to "auto-dive" in certain situations, CNN reported.

The suit alleges this is a change from prior Boeing 737 designs and that the company failed to communicate the change.

"At no relevant time prior to the crash...did Boeing adequately warn Lion Air or its pilots of unsafe condition caused by the new 'auto-diving' design," the suit alleges.

The victim, Rio Nanda Putrama, was flying to Pangkal Pinang in Indonesia to get married, according to his parent's lawyers.

Thursday's lawsuit comes after Zwingli Silalahi, Lion Air's Operational Director, said on Wednesday that Boeing failed to warn pilots about the potential hazards of the new safety feature implicated in the crash.

Investigators were examining whether a sensor on the outside of the plane transmitted incorrect data that could have triggered the stall-prevention system.

Lion Air Flight 610 crashed shortly after taking off from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on October 29. 

Investigators believe the MAX 8 plane may have experienced problems with several sensors.