Parker Hannifin - Boeing 737 Incidents

Boeing 737 Incidents

In 1995, it was discovered that failures in a servo unit supplied by Parker Hannifin to Boeing for use in their 737 aircraft may have contributed to several incidents.

In 2004, a Los Angeles jury ordered Parker Hannifin to pay US$43M to the plaintiff families of the 1997 SilkAir Flight 185 crash in Indonesia. Parker Hannifin subsequently appealed the verdict, which resulted in an out of court settlement for an undisclosed amount. The Indonesian Transportation Safety Board could not determine the cause of the crash due to the near total lack of physical evidence and complete destruction. The National Transportation Safety Board however, disagreed and determined the crash was caused, possibly intentionally, by the pilot.

The FAA ordered an upgrade of all Boeing 737 rudder control systems by November 12, 2002. Parker argued that the components they supplied were not at fault, citing that the product has one of the safest records in its class, but the FAA directive went through regardless.