Swissair has filed a legal complaint against in-flight entertainment (IFE) system manufacturer Interactive Flight Technologies (IFT) relating to the crash of a Boeing MD-11 last September off the Canadian coast.
The carrier says that, while there are "no new findings" on the cause of the accident to flight SR111, it has filed the complaint in the Swiss courts as a "precautionary measure to ensure the plaintiffs retain a right of recourse". This right, it says, "would otherwise have lapsed one year after the accident".
IFT supplied the MD-11's IFE system. Swissair has filed similar complaints against system installer, Hollingsead International, and Santa Barbara Aerospace, which certificated it.
Although a connection between the crash and the IFE system has never been identified, installation problems were uncovered during the crash investigation, resulting in Swissair switching off the system on its MD-11s and Boeing 747s last October. The airline is being sued by IFT for loss of revenues stemming from the carrier's failure to re-activate the system (Flight International, 7-13 July).
Source: Flight International
