Boeing, City Of Chicago Named As Co-Defendants
Claiming that the pilots of Southwest Flight 1248 were negligent
in the operation of their aircraft in last December's fatal
accident at Chicago's Midway Airport, a passenger injured during
the fatal landing has sued the airline. Also named in the suit are
Boeing, and the City of Chicago, which owns and operates the
airport.
The suit was filed by the aviation law firm Kreindler &
Kreindler LLP on behalf of the passenger, a Naval officer then
living in Annapolis, MD, who claims to have suffered physical and
psychological injuries as a result of the accident.
The suit claims that a series of negligent and willful
operational, judgmental and training failures by the defendants led
to the accident, including Southwest's failure to properly
calculate the required landing distance; failure to discontinue an
unstable approach; and failure to properly train the flight crew in
the use of the airplane's autobrake, reverse thrusters and spoiler
systems. The suit also alleges that the crew's first officer did
not have his seat in a proper position to reach and apply the
brakes.
"Southwest Airlines
acted in conscious disregard for the safety of its passengers on
Flight 1248, as well as for the victims on the ground and the
general public," said Kreindler's Daniel O. Rose, a pilot who
successfully litigated a similar case against Southwest stemming
from a runway overrun in Burbank, CA, in March 2000.
Less than a week after the accident at Midway -- which claimed
the life of a six-year-old boy in car that was struck by the 737 as
the aircraft departed the runway -- Kreindler & Kreindler issued a press
release postulating the accident was "strikingly similar" to the
Burbank accident.
"Concerns about cost savings -- a known element of the corporate
culture of this particular airline -- combined with sub-standard
crew training and poor judgment by the pilots of this flight
resulted in a horrific event, including the tragic death of a young
boy on the ground," Rose added.
To back his assertion that Southwest's operating model promotes
a "dangerous corporate culture," in addition to citing the
six-year-old Burbank accident, Rose also claims the NTSB's Probable Cause report regarding
another Southwest incident -- this one in Amarillo, TX
on May 24, 2003 -- shows how Southwest encourages hazardous
behavior in the name of meeting a schedule.
"In the Amarillo
incident, a SWA flight crew similarly attempted a dangerous
approach and landing, that time during a thunderstorm," said Rose.
"That aircraft ran off the side of the runway. The Amarillo flight
crew apparently disregarded safety in its decision to get that
plane down."
According to the NTSB, none of the 68 people onboard the
aircraft were injured in the accident.
The suit also claims that Southwest used an on-board performance
computer system (OPC), designed to calculate the required landing
distance, that was negligently designed and programmed. Rose claims
the system factored in the ability of the plane's thrust reversers
to assist in slowing the 737 immediately after touchdown -- instead
of several seconds after the plane's wheels hit the runway.
No strangers to a courtroom, the firm has litigated dozens of
high-profile aviation cases -- including cases in the 9/11
terrorist attacks, Korean Air Lines Flight 007, TWA Flight 800, and
American Airlines Flight 587.