THE US government shutdown that began on October 1 has led to a “delay” in the process of filing a lawsuit in the June 12 Boeing Air crash by the families of over 125 victims, represented by the American law firm Beasley Allen.A representative of the firm told The Indian Express that it has sought data related to the crash in Ahmedabad that claimed 260 lives, including that of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, from the US authorities concerned, but the government shutdown has purportedly delayed the process.“Due to the US government shutdown, any response from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been delayed. Beasley Allen currently represents the families of over 125 victims on the plane and on the ground,” Principal Attorney Michael Andrews of Beasley Allen told The Indian Express in a WhatsApp message.The Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating from Ahmedabad to Gatwick (London), crashed soon after take-off on June 12, killing 241 on board and 19 on the ground. Only one person on board the Air India flight – Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British citizen from Diu – survived the crash. The Boeing 787 had crashed into the mess of a boys’ hostel building of the BJ Medical College in Meghaninagar during lunch hour there.On August 13, Beasley Allen wrote to the US Federal Aviation Administration under the Freedom of Information Act, the American version of the Right to Information Act, asking it to provide relevant information, including the recording of the cockpit voice recorder, to the firm to proceed with the lawsuit.As per the letter, signed by Attorney Michael Andrews, the firm has sought “Complete copy of all aircraft accident information gathered during the investigation involving Air India Flight 171, all Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder, (EAFR), information, all pictures, video and diagrams from the accident site including but not limited to all engine, instruments and engine tear down or inspections along with all Cockpit Voice Recorder, CVR information to include all audio files and partial or full transcript.”“Based on the FAA’s response and data from the onboard flight data recorder, if investigation into the crash demands, Beasley Allen plans to move ahead with suing Boeing in a US court,”Andrews said.Story continues below this adAndrews, who has made two visits to Gujarat after the air crash, has represented families of aviation disasters including victims of the 2019 crash of the Ethiopian Airlines-run Boeing 737 MAX flight 302, outside of Bishoftu six minutes after takeoff, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members.In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express earlier, Andrews, who has also been to the crash site in Meghaninagar, said that the priority would be to call for transparency “and release of the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR)”. “We are also calling for the documents and we are currently researching the necessary steps to file a petition for that release,”Andrews had said.Speaking about the preliminary report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Andrews had said, “The preliminary report did not share the full cockpit voice recorder data. This creates confusion and unfairly blames the pilots”. He had added that systems in such automated aircrafts are complex and “could be activated by computer commands”.Families prepare for long legal battleFamily members of the victims, meanwhile, said that they understand that legal processes in air crash cases will take time. Saiyed Imtiaz Ali, originally from Mumbai and settled in Dubai, who lost his brother, brother’s wife and their two children in the air crash, told The Indian Express on Sunday,“The agony of losing four of our family members cannot be alleviated but at the same time we are patient and firm. We know this (the legal battle) will take time and we are prepared for that. We are doing this for the sake of accountability.” A family member of another victim, who did not wish to be named, said: “We knew and were also told that investigation and legal processes in such cases take more than a year. So, we are mentally prepared and are not expecting an overnight outcome.”‘Devastating’ effect on Air IndiaStory continues below this adAir India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson, while speaking at the Aviation India 2025 conference in New Delhi on Wednesday (October 29), described the Ahmedabad plane crash as “devastating” for the airline. Also, in a message to employees, Wilson has written that the interim report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), has given“greater clarity” to the preliminary findings, even as he also cautioned that the investigation is“far from over”.The AAIB’s interim report, released on July 12, stated that there was an instance of fuel cutoff just moments after take-off, even as a full investigation remains underway to determine the exact cause of the crash.