Personal Injury Law

Boeing and Continental Airlines sued for safety and crash issues

By Brian F. LaBovick, Esq.

The December  2008 crash of Continental Flight 1404 at Denver International Airport that carried 110 passengers and injured 38 people is causing more grief for Boeing and Continental Airlines.  They are being sued by separate groups of passengers over safety and negligence issues.

In the Boeing lawsuit, four Plaintiffs accuse the Boeing Co. of negligently designing and and manufacturing airplane parts, such as "directional control mechanisms." They contend that because of the defective parts, it was difficult for pilots to navigate properly taking off in high crosswinds.

In the Continental Airlines lawsuit, the Plaintiffs allege that Continental negligently failed to "exercise the highest degree of care in operating the aircraft" and "maintaining control of the aircraft".  The lawsuit represents eight Plaintiffs and is  "Melissa Craft, et al., v. Continental Airlines, Inc., et al.," in the District Court of Harris County, Texas, 129th Judicial District, Cause No. 2009-01917.

Unfortunately, the December 2008 crash is not the only recent crash for Continental Airlines. The February 12, 2009 fatal crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407, marked the tragic loss of 49 passengers, plus an additional person on the ground. 

According to a report on Reuters, there have been four major fatal airline crashes, including the most recent February crash, since the 2001 September 11th hijackings.  They include the following: 

November 2001 - American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A-300,  that crashed in New York, killing 260 passengers and five persons on the ground.

January 8, 2003 - Air Midwest flight 5481, operating as a US Airways Express flight,  that crashed  shortly after leaving Charlotte/Douglas Airport in North Carolina. There were 19 passengers killed in this crash.

August 27, 2006 - A Comair commuter flight crashed shortly after taking off from Lexington, Kentucky Airport, killing 49 passengers on board. One passenger survived this crash.

Full post as published by LaBovick Injury Law Blog on February 26, 2009 (boomark / email).