Air Astana sues Embraer over grounded planes

Kazakh flagship airline Air Astana on Friday sued Embraer for at least $11.9m, accusing the Brazilian airplane manufacturer of leasing planes that were "unsafe to fly" and had to be grounded. In its lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan pursuant to a choice-of-law provision in the companies' lease agreement, Air Astana accused Embraer of engaging in "a course of conduct that was (at best) grossly negligent and displayed a reckless indifference to human life." Embraer said that the company denied breaching any obligations to Air Astana and will "vigorously defend" against any claims. "Air Astana is claiming compensation for its unilateral decision to suspend aircraft operations (and) was the only airline that suspended use of E2 aircraft, and they did so only temporarily and have since resumed all operations," the statement said. Air Astana claimed in the lawsuit that five Embraer E190-300 regional jet aircraft it leased from Embraer were plagued with serious safety problems. Those included failure of wing anti-icing system necessitating an emergency landing, a "cascading failure" of hydraulic systems during a landing, uncommanded changes in altitude and mechanical failures that resulted in missed approaches, according to the complaint.<br/>