China Airlines, Boeing Hit by Suit LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The families of passengers killed in a China Airlines crash last year in Asia have sued the airline and jet maker Boeing Co. , claiming that the plane had design flaws that were compounded by faulty maintenance. The twin lawsuits, believed to be the first filed in the United States related to the May 2002 crash, were filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The plaintiffs contend that Flight CI-611 crashed into the Taiwan Straits because of "structural, mechanical and other failures," the lawsuit said. The 22-year-old Boeing 747-200B, one of the oldest in China Airlines' fleet, mysteriously broke up 20 minutes after takeoff from Chiang Kai Shek International Airport in Taiwan, killing all 225 passengers and crew on board. The flight was bound for Hong Kong. The lawsuit accuses China Airlines of failing to properly maintain and operate the aircraft, and to conduct a preflight inspection. It also alleges that Boeing was negligent in designing and manufacturing the plane. An attorney for the plaintiffs could not be reached immediately for comment. A spokeswoman for Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, had no comment. Aviation authorities said at the time that the China Airlines pilot had not issued any distress signals before the plane disappeared from radar screens in clear weather on a 90-minute journey. The lack of immediate clues into the air disaster prompted speculation of an on-board explosion similar to that which downed TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York in 1996. Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council was still investigating the cause of the crash but Boeing officials have dismissed those theories, saying there was no evidence of an explosion or fuel tank failure. The air disaster was China Airlines' fourth fatal crash since 1994. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************