Aviation News, Headlines & Alerts
 
Category: <span>Lawsuit</span>

Category: Lawsuit


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Cessna, Crash, Lawsuit

Venezuela: Tour Operator Sued

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On the Isla Margarita in Venezuela on a trip to Angel Falls, tour operator First Choice is being sued for the death of six year old Thomas Horne, who died on a tour while not wearing a seat belt. In fact, an investigator reported in an inquest that “Thomas would probably be alive had he been restrained properly by a seat belt.”

A 14 seat Cessna 208 crashed while they were aboard.

The crew did not inform the passengers how to fasten a four-point waist and shoulder seat belt. The Cessna manual indicates that not wearing the shoulder harness could be fatal.

The flight was not run by First Choice, but by a third party.


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Airbus, Editorial, Lawsuit, wrongful death

Massive Airbus Settlement Looks to be Unsettling

George’s Point of View

The insurance claim for the Air France crash promises to be huge; the cost of the aircraft alone will no doubt exceed a hundred million dollars. Between the international treaty that ensures aviation passenger’s rights, the legal system, insurers like AIG, AXA SA, Allianz SE, American International Group Inc., and the companies which are going to be liable (like Airbus and who ever manufactured those pitot tubes), the claims are going to be in the hundreds of millions.

Spouses, children and parents will be receiving compensation from the insurance, and from companies whose exact degree of liability will be decided through the courts (if not in them.)

IF it gets to the courts.

In situations like this, the insurance companies swoop down before the victims’ families can arm themselves with lawyers; in fact, insurance companies are a little like lawyers. Or worse. They’re like salespeople. They want that signature on the dotted line, and they want to get it for as little as possible. They want that release. To get it, they try to offer victims’ families the smallest possible carrot.

If they can induce families to sign a release, then the families sign away any future claims that might arise from product liability. When you sign that release, you waive the right to sue.

So I’m hoping the families don’t jump the gun here, and rush in to negotiate with the insurance companies without legal counsel on their side. When they sign those release forms, they just might be signing away justice for their loved ones.


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Editorial, Lawsuit, politics, Spain

Spain Punishes Officers for Body Misidentification

George’s Point of View

After 30 bodies were misidentified and sent to the wrong grieving families, General Vicente Navarro received a three year sentence; and Commander Jose Ramirez and Captain Miguel Saez received 18-month sentences.

Some of the bodies had to be exhumed so that the misidentification could be verified.

Sixty-two soldiers died in the Yak-42 crash in Turkey on May 26, 2003. Imagine how the families felt. First they have to suffer the deaths. Then almost half of the victims were misidentified. And remember to the families, these weren’t random victims. They were husbands and sons.

Imagine how the families felt when they had to dig up their husbands and sons and have the remains crosschecked with dental records and DNA samples. It probably wasn’t limted to 30, either; they probably exhumed all the victims except for whichever ones might have been visually recognizable by family members.

One wonders if the buck stopped in the right place. Was the decision not to perform DNA/Dental verification really made by General Vicente Navarro or was it a decision that was passed down to him from defence minister Federico Trillo? Isn’t there a public policy of aviation procedure in cases such as this? My question is not whether the sentence is just, but whether the right individual was sentenced.

Carelessness of this profundity goes beyond cruelty.

If I were a Spanish lawyer or on the Ministerio de Fomento, Civil Aviation, I’d be going through policies with a fine toothed comb. I’d love to hear from Madrid to find out just exactly what they’ve done in the past three years to prevent this kind of inhuman treatment in the future.


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Lawsuit

Aviation Case Histories

A Brief List of Some Recent Cases



July 09, 2006
S7 Airlines Irkutsk, Russia
Contact photographer Oliver Brunke		NTSB Report
Friday, September 29, 2006
Gol Airlines of Brazil Crash
Contact Photographer Bruno Pereira		NTSB Report
July 17, 2007
TAM Linhas Aéreas Crash
Contact Photographer Bernardo Andrade		NTSB Report
Feb 21 2008,
Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518
crashes in Venezuela
Contact Ivan P. Nesbit
alt contact		Aviation Safety Net Record
August 20, 2008
Spanair Flight JK5022 crashes
on take off from Madrid Barajas
International Airport
Contact photographer Alejandro Hdez Leon		NTSB Report
August 24, 2008
Itek Air crash in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan		Contact Pereslavtsev
Dmitry – Russian AviaPhoto Team		NTSP Prelim Report
September 14, 2008
Russian Operated Aeroflot-Nord
Flight 821 Crashes in Perm Russia
Contact Photographer Andrey Nogin		NTSB Report
February 12, 2009
Continental/COLGAN AIR
Crash in Clarence Center NY
Contact Photographer Michael Fast		NTSB report
March 12, 2009
Canadian Cougar
Sikorsky crashes 28
miles east of Cape
Spear near St. John’s
Newfoundland
Contact Photographer Mark Stares		NTSB Report


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Air Safety, Boeing, Crash, Lawsuit, pilot error

March 2007: Yogyakarta Crash Landing

This is the sad story of Marwoto Komar, a pilot with 22 years of flight experience.

In March 2007, he piloted a Boeing 737-400 with 140 passengers on board which crashed on landing at the Yogyakarta airport. The plane came in for landing too high and too fast, and although the co-pilot called for a go-around, he landed on that pass anyway. The Boeing overran the runway and caught fire. Twenty-one people died in that crash.

The* IFALPA position is that criminalisation of individuals does not improve air safety.

In July 2008 he was arrested, tried and found guilty of negligence.

An Indonesian court sentenced Komar to two years imprisonment for his role in the crash.

* International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations

see src

George’s Point of View

You make a mistake.
People get killed.
You go to jail.


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Helicopter, Lawsuit

Helicopter Crash Lawsuit Filed

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A wrongful death suit has been filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court seeking $8 million on behalf of Shawn Blazer, one of nine men killed in a helicopter crash on Aug. 5. The helicopter crashed right after take-off as it was transporting crews battling Northern California wildfires at Trinity Alps Wilderness. Two other suits, each seeking $10 million were filed on behalf of Matthew Hammer and Bryan Rich. Negligence and design flaws are among the allegations.

Additional negligence and liability suits are anticipated.

Read more here and here


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Lawsuit, News

Platinum Jet Management LLC, of Fort Lauderdale Has Day In Court

2009-Feb 5-Platinum Jet co-founders Michael Brassington, 35, and Paul Brassington, 29, company manager Andre Budhan, 42, and maintenance director Brien„© McKenzie, 42 were arrested Wednesday on charges they violated federal aircraft regulations, contributing to a 2005 accident –Canadair Challenger 600 business jet failed to take off, crossed a heavily traveled road, hitting cars along the way, and slammed into a warehouse–at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport. Additional warrants have also been issued for charter director Joseph Singh, 37, and pilot Francis Viera, 59.

What: Canadair Challenger 600 business jet
Where: New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport
When: Feb. 2, 2005
Who: 20 people injured
Why: The accident has been judged to be due to fuel loading (weight shift)

See NTSB Publication Below:

Aircraft Accident Report
Runway Overrun and Collision
Platinum Jet Management, LLC
Bombardier Challenger CL-600-1A11, N370V
Teterboro, New Jersey
February 2, 2005

NTSB Number AAR-06/04
NTIS Number PB2007-910401

Executive Summary: On February 2, 2005, about 0718 eastern standard time, a Bombardier Challenger CL-600-1A11, N370V, ran off the departure end of runway 6 at Teterboro Airport (TEB), Teterboro, New Jersey, at a ground speed of about 110 knots; through an airport perimeter fence; across a six-lane highway (where it struck a vehicle); and into a parking lot before impacting a building. The two pilots were seriously injured, as were two occupants in the vehicle. The cabin aide, eight passengers, and one person in the building received minor injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postimpact fire. The accident flight was an on-demand passenger charter flight from TEB to Chicago Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois. The flight was subject to the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 and operated by Platinum Jet Management, LLC (PJM), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, under the auspices of a charter management agreement with Darby Aviation (Darby), Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the pilots’ failure to ensure the airplane was loaded within weight-and-balance limits and their attempt to take off with the center of gravity well forward of the forward takeoff limit, which prevented the airplane from rotating at the intended rotation speed.

Contributing to the accident were: 1) PJM’s conduct of charter flights (using PJM pilots and airplanes) without proper Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification and its failure to ensure that all for-hire flights were conducted in accordance with 14 CFR Part 135 requirements; 2) Darby Aviation’s failure to maintain operational control over 14 CFR Part 135 flights being conducted under its certificate by PJM, which resulted in an environment conducive to the development of systemic patterns of flight crew performance deficiencies like those observed in this accident; 3) the failure of the Birmingham, Alabama, FAA Flight Standards District Office to provide adequate surveillance and oversight of operations conducted under Darby’s Part 135 certificate; and 4) the FAA’s tacit approval of arrangements such as that between Darby and PJM.

The safety issues addressed in this report include weight and balance procedures; flight crew actions, training, and procedures; company oversight and operational control; FAA responsibility and oversight; cabin aide actions, training, and procedures; and runway safety areas.


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Bombardier, Lawsuit

Travis Barker and Dead Bodyguard File Suit

Travis Barker filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Bombardier Inc., Clay Lacy Aviation and Goodyear Tire and Rubber, alleging the Learjet he crashed in was defective and pilots were negligent.

You may know Travis Barker as the former Blink 182 drummer. Now you know he’s also a plane crash survivor. Barker’s bodyguard died in the learjet’s crash on Sept. 19. Thelma Martin Still, the mother of Charles Still, also filed a suit.

According to the lawsuit, the learjet’s “landing gear, tires, wheels, brakes, reverse thrust system, squat switches and component parts were not airworthy…The pilots’ decision was a breach of their duty owed to the passengers onboard and was a substantial factor in causing the crash and resultant injuries and deaths.”

See below from the archives

What: Learjet N999LJ owned by Global Exec Aviation en route to Van Nuys, Calif
Where: South Carolina
When: departed shortly before midnight Friday
Who: carrying six people Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif., and Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles — died, as did pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., and co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity DJ AM were critically injured
Why: air traffic controllers reporting seeing sparks. The plane was traveling at least 92 mph, its minimum takeoff speed, when the crew thought the tire burst The plane hurtled off the end of a runway and crashed through antennas and a fence, crossing a five-lane highway and ending up on an embankment in flames.The plane was heading to Van Nuys, Calif.

The FAA is researching the possibility that a blown tire caused the jet crash. Investigations have turned up evidence that tire may have blown just before takeoff at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. The cockpit voice recorder indicates that the pilot and co-pilot informed air traffic controllers they’d heard a tire burst and they attempted to abort takeoff.

In serious condition is Travis Barker, who was the drummer for the band Blink-182. Barker was one of the two people wounded when the Learjet 60 crashed on a highway and caught fire.

Listed in critical condition is Adam Michael Goldstein otherwise known as celebrity disc jockey DJ AM. He reportedly saved his own life by jumping from the burning plane while it was skidding down a runway.

Joseph M. Still Burn Center said they both suffered second- and third-degree burns

Status (FAA)

Certification Class: Standard
Certification Issued: 2007-11-16
Air Worthiness Test: 2006-12-14
Last Action Taken: 2008-08-11
Current Status: Valid

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Airbus, Brazil, Crash, Lawsuit, TAM, wrongful death

TAM Update

 

What: TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A320 Flight JJ3054
Where: Sao Paulo Brazil Congonhas airport
When: July 17, 2007
Who: 199 fatalities
Why: Sao Paulo Institute of Criminology 16-month investigation places blame on government agencies for failing to ensure runway safety. Government failure to set rainy-day landing rules for the short runway whose new surface had not yet been grooved to drain rainwater.

NTSB Factual
NTSB Identification: DCA07RA059
Scheduled 14 CFR operation of TAM Linhas Aéreas
Accident occurred Tuesday, July 17, 2007 in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A320-233, registration: PR-MBK
Injuries: 199 Fatal.
On July 17, 2007, at 21:54 UTC, an Airbus A320-233, Brazilian registration PTMBK, serial number 789, operated by TAM Linhas Aéreas overran the end of runway 35 at the Sao Paulo Congonhas airport upon landing. The airplane was on a scheduled domestic flight from Porto Alegre, Brazil. The airplane departed the runway to the left side near the departure end and crossed over a road prior to impacting a cargo depot and gas station. The end of the runway is on elevated terrain approximately 80 meters above the surface of the road. The 6 crew members, 162 passengers, and 18 persons on the ground suffered fatal injuries. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and fire.


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Lawsuit

A Sticky Case

According to Special Agent Peter Carricato, Maria Esther Castillo of Oswego is in court today charged with resisting arrest and interfering with the operations of United Airlines Flight 645–after spanking a flight attendant, standing on a blind passenger, hair pulling and assorted (possibly alcohol-related) bad behavior. Her disruption was actually bad enough that the flight crew was forced to duct tape her to her seat until the flight was diverted to Charlotte-Douglass International Airport where authorities forcibly removed her from the plane.

Before she was bound to the seat by duct tape, Castillo was bound to Chicago from Puerto Rico.

The criminal complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte.


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Helicopter, Lawsuit

Helicopters In Trouble

There are at least a dozen news articles today discussing the issue of helicopter safety, many of them responding to the AP article that references the 9 medical crashes in the eleven months.

Part of the problem is a shortage of night vision (infrared “synthetic vision”) that displays terrain of the type the military uses.

The article also lists recommendations of the NTSB, which may or may not be adopted by the FAA. The recommendations are as follows:

  • Require EMS helicopter operators to install Terrain Awareness Warning Systems (TAWS) on helicopters. The system warns pilots when helicopters are in danger of crashing into the ground, mountains and some buildings.
  • Require EMS flights that carry only medical personnel to follow the more stringent safety rules that apply to flights carrying patients and organs for donation.
  • Require a formal flight risk evaluation before an EMS flight.
  • Require EMS flights to use formalized dispatch procedures that include up-to-date weather information and assistance in flight risk-assessment decisions.

One hopes that through this 20-20 hindsight the FAA will have better vision.

There are issues going on with the FAA. “A federal logjam has held up the report on the Oct. 15 crash.” There have been a lot of crashes lately and the paperwork must be piling up.

And then there is this: “Shelley Garrett, guardian over Dave Garrett’s only son and heir, filed a product-liability and negligence lawsuit late last week against Bell Helicopter in Harris County District Court” over the channel 13 helicopter crash. While not a medical evacuation crash, it is still helicopter crash news. Are the NTSB and FAA qualified to supervise helicopter safety issues?


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alarm, Lawsuit, Spanair

Spanair Update

Madrid Superior Court Judge Juan Javier Perez is questioning three mechanics in relation to the Spanair plane crash. The purpose of the inquisition is to decide if there is a question of criminal accountability (manslaughter) for mistakes that lead to air disasters. To date, the only problem pinned down on the plane is with the plane’s wing flaps and the failure of a cockpit alarm.

The plane’s take-off warning system is supposed to be checked before every flight; it is supposed to warn pilots when planes properly configured for takeoff. Legally, the system is looking for someone to blame. However, some believe that getting caught up in blame clouds the larger issue of developing safety checks and balances.

Air Crash News and Information Urls


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Australia, Lawsuit

Unlicensed Pilots

The Australian aviation authority, Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is in the process of investigating Hempel’s Aviation. Barry Hempel was killed recently while flying a passenger in a stunt plane. Hempel had no commercial pilot’s license and wasn’t qualified to pilot paying customers. The CASA is actively looking for people who purchased flights from the now-liquidated company in the past year. Anyone who has information that may help CASA’s investigation should call: 07 3144 7532.


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Lawsuit, UK

Drunken Passenger Goes to Jail

Back in mid July, we wrote about air passenger Dean Lyons trying to open the door of the Boeing 767-300 he was passenger in, en route to Cuba. Instead, the plane dropped him off in Bermuda in the guardianship of a police escort, while –due to flight crew flying time restrictions–the rest of the passengers on the flight had to wait till the next day to fly on to their destination, Varadero Cuba. On October 6, Lyons was jailed for that offense. That, and for punching a man in a Basingstoke pub.


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Lawsuit, politics

Emergency Landing

 

An airliner was having engine trouble, and the pilot instructed the cabin crew to have the passengers take their seats and get prepared for an emergency landing.

A few minutes later, the pilot asked the flight attendants if everyone was buckled in and ready.

"All set back here, Captain," came the reply, "except one lawyer who is still in the aisle passing out business cards."

src rep-am.com/articles/2008/10/09/lifestyle/daily_laugh/doc48ecde248eb27266367816.txt


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Damages, Lawsuit

Helicopter Crash Survivor Awarded 4.5 Million

Central District of California, the Hon. Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that in Melanie Bailey, et. al. v. United States of America Department of Transportation (Federal Aviation Administration) – Case #CV 06-1191 FMC(VBKx)

27-year-old Gavin Heyworth, a former Marine sued the FAA after the November 6th, 2003 collision in which Heyworth was flying solo when he collided with another helicopter. The U.S. District Court ruled that negligent air traffic controllers gave confusing instructions to Heyworth who was a student pilot at the time.


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Air Safety, compensation, Crash, Damages, Helicopter, Lawsuit, USA, wrongful death

Camp Pendleton Crash Resolved in Court

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Jurors are sending a message to big business.

The only way to hurt big business is through the pocket book. When you hit them there, they eventually come around to doing what is right.

After this California wrongful death lawsuit verdict, my bet is that SDG&E will develop a belated conscience and will install safety devices or ball markers to help prevent this type of disaster.

So we are offering congratulations to the jurors for using their voices; and congratulations to the families. No amount of money is going to bring back those precious four lives, or ever ease the pain of their families, but, at the very least we can hope that the families will have some comfort that a small measure of justice has been served.


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Air Safety, Lawsuit

Firebug Flight Attendant Fugitive Flees FBI

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Not only did the flight attendant fire to paper towels in the bathroom because he didn’t want to work that flight, he had done the same thing 5 weeks earlier; and then skipped out on his Federal trial in Fargo, N.D.

Luckily none of the 72 passengers and four crew members (including himself) were injured in the fire.

So now there is a warrant for the arrest of Eder Rojas, 19.


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Cobra, compensation, Helicopter, Huey, Lawsuit, wrongful death

Millions Awarded to Crash Victims

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Two helicopters–both crews using night-vision goggles–participated in the nighttime maneuvers on Jan. 22, 2004 – a “low bird” that flew close to the ground and a “high bird” that flew above looking for possible obstructions. As the helicopters were leaving Talega Canyon, the UH-1N helicopter known as a Huey struck a 135-foot utility tower. The Cobra was intact. The Huey was not. All the victims were Iraq veterans attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Fast forward to 2008. (Cases like these take years to go to trial.)

Family members of Capt. Adam E. Miller, 29; 1st Lt. Michael S. Lawlor, 26; Staff Sgt. Lori A. Privette, 27; and Cpl. Joshua D. Harris, 21, asked for unspecified damages in the wrongful-death lawsuit. In a jury decision, over $15 million was awarded on Wednesday to the families of four Marines killed. Plus some $50 million in punitive damages.

San Diego Gas & Electric, which owned the tower was determined by the jury to be negligent and “acted with malice” by not installing safety devices to prevent accidents. After a three week trial and deliberating one day, the jury determined that the parents of all four Marines should receive $2.125 million. Lawlor’s wife was entitled to $4.5 million for the loss and $2.2 million in lost earnings.

SDG&E bore 56 percent of the responsibility for the collision because they knew about the hazard and failed to follow safety recommendations. Pilots and other parties shared the rest of the blame. After the trial’s punitive damages phase, the jury awarded $10.1 million to the families of each Marine who died in the crash.

Since the accident, SDG&E has installed lights.


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compensation, Damages, Lawsuit

Suit settles at $13 million

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Heirs of six people killed in a March 26, 2005 Penn State plane crash recovered $13 million in civil damages although a judge ruled that they cannot sue the plane’s manufacturer in federal court in Pennsylvania on the basis that Pilatus had minimal ties to Pennsylvania and could not be sued in the district.

Their private plane spiraled downward and crashed miles from University Park Airport.The NTSA board concluded the flight failed to maintain enough speed to avoid stalling.

Two Providence, R.I. victims were pilot Jeffrey Jacober; his wife, Karen; their 15-year-old son, Eric; Gregg Weingeroff, 49; his wife, Dawn, 42; and their 10-year-old son, Leland.

The Penn State lacrosse team helped fund an annual scholarship named for the Jacober family.


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Airbus, Brakes, Brazil, Congonhas SP Brazil, Crash, Lawsuit, TAM, Thrust Reverser, wrongful death

PR Newswire: Multiple Lawsuits Against TAM Airlines

 

Masry and Vititoe Partners, MIAMI, March 26 /PRNewswire/ PRESS RELEASE — Internationally recognized aviation attorneys Steven C. Marks and Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid with the Podhurst Orseck law firm have filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of families of passengers killed in Brazil’s worst airline disaster. On July 17, 2007, 199 people perished when TAM Airlines Flight 3054 slid off the runway at Congonhas Airport and slammed into an air cargo building in Sao Paulo. Today, Podhurst attorneys filed 59 wrongful death complaints related to the catastrophe in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

In addition to TAM NYSE: TAM, which is charged with its own negligence and that of its pilots and maintenance personnel, the defendants in the lawsuits are Pegasus Aviation IV, Inc.; Airbus S.A.S.; Airbus Industrie G.I.E. (EADS) (EAD.PA); Airbus Customer Services, Inc.; Goodrich Corporation NYSE: GR; and International Aero Engines AG.

“Responsibility not only lies with the companies that manufactured and handled maintenance for the aircraft,” said Marks, “We believe Airbus provided inadequate customer support, simulator services, and training materials for the pilots and flight crew that replicates the performance of the aircraft in all normal and abnormal conditions.”

Marks said it’s clear the flight crew knew there were problems with the aircraft before the disaster because the plane’s right thrust reverser had been deactivated before the flight.

“The thrust reverser is used to slow the jet down upon landing. Without an operational right thrust reverser, it didn’t have enough room to stop on the runway, ending in a horrific crash when the plane skidded off the runway’s edge,” he said.

Podhurst Orseck filed the first lawsuit related to the crash on behalf of the family of 35-year-old Ricardo Tazoe of Miami, an employee with Banco Santander. In all of the cases, the plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial to recover financial damages for pain and suffering; lost value of life; funeral expenses; and all other damages they may be entitled to under the law.

Marks and Martinez-Cid have extensive experience handling Brazilian aviation matters. They currently represent the families of numerous passengers who were killed when Gol Transportes Aeros Flight #1907 collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet over the Amazon Rainforest in September 2006.

They have represented victims in countless significant major commercial airline crashes, including those killed in the crash of Comair Flight 5191 at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. in August 2006. Marks has acted as co-lead trial counsel for the California State Court plaintiffs after a Silk Air crash between Jakarta and Singapore in 1997 (successfully obtaining one of the most significant and largest verdicts in a mass disaster aviation case) and acting as lead liaison counsel for the state court and federal multi- district litigation plaintiffs’ steering committees over the ValuJet Flight 592 crash in Miami-Dade County in 1996.

Based in Miami, Podhurst Orseck, P.A. concentrates exclusively in trial and appellate litigation. The firm’s general tort practice places a major emphasis on aviation, automobile, products liability and medical malpractice litigation. In addition, the firm has a substantial practice in commercial, matrimonial and criminal litigation, as well as complex commercial tort litigation. Attorneys serve clients and corporations throughout the United States, and in many foreign countries. You can learn more about Podhurst Orseck by visiting the firm’s website at www.podhurst.com.


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Brazil, Lawsuit, TAM, Thrust Reverser

Tam Air Suit Filed

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)–Relatives of victims of Brazil’s Tam Air CRASH filed suit in Miami seeking damages in 59 wrongful death complaints. Plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial for pain and suffering, lost value of life, funeral expenses and other damages. The TAM Airlines Flight 3054 crash killed 199 people. Masry and Vititoe’s partner Podhurst Orseck filed the first case ten days after the accident occurred.

Charged are TAM S.A. (TAM), its pilots and maintenance personnel, France-based Airbus; Goodrich Corp. ( GR) of Charlotte, North Carolina; International Aero Engines AG of East Hartford, Connecticut; and Pegasus Aviation IV Inc. of Delaware. The thrust reverser slows the jet down when it lands. Without a working right thrust reverser, it didn’t have enough room to stop on the runway, he said.

Atty Steven C. Marks said.”Responsibility not only lies with the companies that manufactured and handled maintenance for the aircraft,” and that the flight crew knew there were problems with the aircraft before the disaster because the plane’s right thrust reverser had been deactivated before the flight.

Brazil’s largest airline, was trying to reach agreements with families of victims and did not have an immediate comment.

src: Dow Jones Newswires; South Florida Lawyers blog


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Italy, Lawsuit

Five Manslaughter Convictions in Air Crash

In October 2001, in thick fog, a Copenhagen-bound SAS airliner ploughed into a Cessna business jet as the airliner was taking off resulting in the deaths of 118 people in 2001 in Italy’s worst air disaster. Italy’s top tribunal, The Cassation Court, acquitted two senior airport officials who stood trial for the Milan’s Linate airport crash. The SAS plane slammed into a baggage hangar and burst into flames. All on board both planes died, plus four people in the hangar.

Paolo Pettinaroli, spokesperson of an association of relatives of the victims, said he was “happy with the confirmation of the convictions, but I did not expect that they would acquit those responsible for the airports’ security…It was shameful then, and it is still today.”

Following the disaster, the airfield was found to have safety shortcomings, and lacked a functioning ground radar system. The July 2006 Milan appeals court findings of multiple manslaughter as well as negligent disaster were upheld. Investigations verified that runway signs were confusing; the control tower failed to ask the business plane’s pilot to read back his instructions, ground radar was out of operation and safety procedures were poorly followed.

Details of the accident
In the fog, the private Cessna invaded the runway of SAS flight 686 which committed to take off. The collision at 270.5 km/h crashed the Cessna, instantly killing the four passengers. The MD-87 lost the right engine and debris from the Cessna weakened the left engine. Commander Joakim Gustafsson could not end the takeoff phase so he was forced to carry out a perfect textbook emergency landing. However the MD-87 crashed into the baggage hanger at around 260 km/h, bursting into flames, killing 110 passengers and four workers in the building. The only survivor was Pasquale Padovano, an employee of SEA, Milan’s airport management company. Italians, Swedes, Danes, Finns, Norwegians, a Romanian, a Briton, a South African and an American were killed.

Upheld was:

  • a 6 year prison sentence for former head of air traffic control authority ENAV, Sandro Gualano. He received the longest prison term.
  • a 3 year sentence for Paolo Zacchetti, air traffic controller
  • a four-year, four-month sentence for Fabio Marzocca’s Former ENAV director general
  • a 3 year 3 month sentence for Lorenzo Grecchi, former official with the SEA airports agency,
  • a 3 year 3 month sentence for Antonio Cavanna, former official with the SEA airports agency

Angelo Di Popolo, deputy prosecutor of the Cassation, requested cancellation of the acquittals for the ex-director of Linate airport Vincenzo Fusco (current ENAC director in the airport of Alghero-Fertilia), and the ex-director of the Milan airports, Francesco Federico (now ENAC director of the “Sandro Pertini” airport of Turin).


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Italy, Lawsuit, McDonnell Douglas, Scandinavian Airlines

Convictions Stand in Milan Airport Crash

 

Convictions Stand in Milan Airport Crash
4 hours ago

ROME (AP) — Italy’s top criminal court on Wednesday upheld prison sentences for five aviation officials convicted in a 2001 runway collision of two aircraft that killed 118 people, Italian news agencies reported.
The Court of Cassation upheld the convictions of manslaughter and negligence and confirmed sentences ranging from three to 6 1/2 years in jail, the ANSA and Apcom news agencies reported.

The longest prison term belongs to Sandro Gualano, who stepped down as chief executive of Italy’s air traffic agency ENAV after the Oct. 8, 2001, crash between an Scandinavian Airlines System airliner and a corporate jet at Milan’s Linate airport, the agencies said.

The crash happened on a foggy morning when the SAS MD-87, bound for Copenhagen, rolled down the tarmac for takeoff. The jetliner collided with a business plane with four people on board then careened into a baggage hangar, killing four ground workers and 110 people on the jetliner.

Investigators have described the accident as avoidable, caused by a combination of human error and poorly followed safety procedures. The ground radar was out of operation.

Investigators cited confusing runway signs, and the control tower failed to ask the smaller plane’s pilot to read back his instructions, authorities said.

Wednesday’s ruling upheld the sentence of former ENAV director general Fabio Marzocca to four years and four months in jail. Three-year terms were also confirmed for Paolo Zacchetti — the controller on duty during the crash — and two other airport officials, ANSA reported.
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


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Air Safety, Brazil, Lawsuit, pilot error

Gol Goes On and On

According to Brazil’s Defense Minister Nelson Jobim, critics are “playing politics” when they disparage the state of Brazil’s aviation industry, in which occured in the past year, the crash of a Gol jetliner over the Amazon in which 154 people died, and July’s disaster when an Airbus crashed into a warehouse in Sao Paulo killing 199 people.

Nevertheless, during a seminar in the United States, the President of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers, Marc Baumgartner criticized the Brazilian Air Force which oversees Brazil’s air traffic control system for trying to punish the controllers. “The Brazilian Air Force invested lots of energy to arrest and prosecute its own workers but none to fix its (air traffic control) system.” He also said that “it’s a question of time before a new air accident happens again in Brazil.”

So far, a military court has declined to indict five Brazilian air traffic controllers for the GOL crash. Two American pilots face charges in a civilian criminal court in connection with the same crash. A Congressional commission report supports the indictment of pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino.

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