AMR Corp's American Airlines, UAL Corp's United Airlines and airport security contractors are bound to face wrongful death and negligence lawsuits in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist hijackings, legal experts say.
The airlines and security firms likely will face suits seeking hundreds of millions of dollars -- not only from the victims on the four hijacked planes but also those injured or killed at the Pentagon and New York's World Trade Center, as well as property owners.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"There must be some feeling of outrage among those who lost loved ones that this didn't have to happen," said Greg Keating, a University of Southern California professor who specializes in tort law.
No lawsuits have yet been reported, and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America has asked its 60,000 members for a moratorium on suits until recovery efforts have ended.
Lawyers are also waiting for more information from the federal investigation of the attacks and how the terrorists breached security measures at Boston's Logan International Airport, Newark International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport. Plaintiffs will have to prove negligence in order to win any claims.
"Security breaches are key. That's how these people got on," said Aaron Podhurst, a Miami attorney who represented families of the victims of the 1996 crash of Trans World Airlines Flight 800 over Long Island and the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Terrorist attacks have previously led to litigation against airlines, most notably the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. The bomb, hidden in a suitcase, caused the deaths of 270 passengers and Lockerbie residents.
A federal court jury in Brooklyn, New York, concluded in 1992 that Pan Am's "willful misconduct," including lax baggage inspection, led to the crash. The carrier, which ceased operations in 1991, agreed to pay about US$500 million to victims' families.
Airport security companies are likely the first to be scrutinized for allowing knife-wielding terrorists to board the planes, lawyers said.
``What's security supposed to be doing? Assessing risk,'' said Stuart Fraenkel, a lawyer with Engstrom, Lipscomb and Lack in Los Angeles.
Securicor Plc's Argenbright Security provides services at 17 of the 20 largest airports in the US, including Washington Dulles and Newark, where two of the four hijacked planes originated.
Sutton, England-based Securicor purchased Argenbright from AHL Services last year. In a statement, Atlanta-based Argenbright expressed its sorrow for the ``tragic events'' and declined comment on the hijacked flights.
Argenbright had been cited at least twice by federal authorities for security problems, the Miami Herald reported. The company pleaded guilty last year to allowing untrained employees, some with criminal backgrounds, to operate checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport.
At Logan, American uses Globe Aviation Security Services Corp, and United uses Huntleigh Corp, based in St. Louis, according to the Boston Globe. Neither company could be reached for comment.
Chicago-based Boeing Co made all four airliners that were hijacked Tuesday, two 757s and two 767s. The world's largest airplane maker could be hit with product-defect claims for its cockpit door design, lawyers said.
Pilots have long asked for doors to be constructed out of steel or sturdier materials, and a hijacking is not an unforeseeable event, plaintiffs' lawyers claim.
"You have a door that a 14-year-old weakling can kick in," Fraenkel said. "Did the manufacturer know that this door would be inadequate in the event of a hijacking? A reasonable juror would say yeah."
Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR and UAL, which is based in Elk Grove, Illinois, would face a stricter liability standard than Boeing or the security providers. As commercial carriers, they are held to "the highest duty of care" for the maintenance and operation of their planes, Fraenkel said.
If the airlines' flight crews are accused of negligence, the carriers' "best defense is to argue that the pilots and crews followed procedures mandated by the [Federal Aviation Administration] to handle a hijacking situation," Keating said.
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