Case filed against Air-India chief in US Supreme Court

A Seattle-based Boeing instructor pilot has filed a criminal complaint against Air-India Chairman V Thulasidas in the Supreme Court of the US accusing him of irregularities in business relationship between the two companies and violating the Indian aviation laws related to flight safety. The Senior Instructor Pilot at Boeing, Tony Keyter, filed the criminal charges against the A-I chief and 37 others in the Supreme Court (Case No. 05-140) on March 7. Prominent among them include members of the Boeing Board, eight vice-presidents and four managers. Keyter, who had trained Indian pilots on behalf of the Boeing for about two and half months last year, told The Indian Express: “My complaint is against Thulasidas and not against Air-India. The criminal charges arise from intimidation and coercion to break the law.”

As a shareholder of the Boeing Company, Keyter wrote a letter to its Board of Directors on March 8. In his letter, Keyter, who has been an instructor pilot for 17 years, said the irregularities related to the Boeing’s business dealings with A-I and the “illegal tampering” with and “severe intimidation” by senior Boeing officials of a key witness in a US Supreme Court case. Keyter was sent to India by Boeing to train A-I flight crew on new aircraft acquired by the airlines.

“At the time there was a prevailing climate within A-I to violate the aviation Act as it pertains to flight safety. The A-I’s insistence that its crews operate despite violations of the aviation laws were widespread and occurred with Thulasidas’ knowledge. These violations potentially affect the safety of passengers,” he alleged. “During training of A-I flight crews, Thulasidas, in collusion with Boeing vice president Dinesh Keskar, coerced me as a Senior Boeing Instructor Pilot to violate the Indian aviation laws concerning flight safety.”