Thu, Oct 04, 2007
Suit Aimed To "Shed Light" On Security Flaws
Hoping to hold a spotlight on what
they say were glaring security flaws at the airport, four Maryland
families who lost loved ones at the Pentagon on 9/11 -- along with
other victims and their families -- have settled their lawsuit
against American Airlines and several other related companies.
"The 9/11 report judged the government response to 9/11 and was
geared to improving our system of intelligence and how the
government could take greater responsibility, but it was the
lawsuit that dealt with the corporations," Maryland-based lawyer
Keith Franz told the National Press Club. He was quoted by the
Baltimore Sun. "We believe that our exposing flaws in the system
has made these corporations change their policies and establish a
greater level of vigilance."
Franz and his law firm, headquartered in Towson, MD, near
Baltimore, interviewed more than 80 airline workers ranging from
baggage handlers to top executives, trying to figure out how 19 al
Qaeda hijackers were able to slip through security.
In the case of AAL 77, which departed Washington-Dulles that
terrible morning, "We have the one piece of evidence that is
indisputable," Franz said, "and that is [the video of] the
passengers and the hijackers going through the security checkpoint
at Dulles. It is clear that they did not even abide by their own
procedures in dealing with people that set off the metal detectors
on two occasions."
Those hijackers flew the Los Angeles-bound flight into the
Pentagon.
Franz says, as a result of his lawsuit, the security landscape
at airports nationwide has changed for the better. The amount of
the settlement was not disclosed.
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