Originally Posted by
OldAg84
Punishment enough for who? I think the families of the passengers who died might be excused for being angry. One thing I've learned is youi never know what people are going through ever. I'll give the passengers families a pass here, especially in light of the context of this tragic accident. This wasn't an equipment failure or someone else fault. The Captain is ultimately responsible for the safe operation of any flight- clearly something happened. Again, let's let the investigation continue. Perhaps it is early for lawsuit filing, the families have their reasons, perhaps they NEED the money that the individual who was killed would've provided had they not been paying passengers on an aircraft that took off on the WRONG runway.
I suspect the Captain's wife is going through hell because she lost her husband as well. If and when additional facts emerge, perhaps she'll file a lawsuit as well. Oh wait, she shouldn't.
In any case, all parties to this tragedy are in my thoughts and have my condolences.
Need the money?? You would think that, but you'd be surprised. If the person was a breadwinner, then they probably had a good amount of personal life insurance (probably over $1 million).
But, for example, for people on that plane who were NOT breadwinners, there's NO legitimate reason for their families to get millions of dollars, b/c technically the family is incurring no genuine financial loss. Comair's insurance comapny already gave $25,000 to each family, which would be more than enough to cover burrial expenses, plus have several thousand left over. In that case, it does became "feel better" money. There was a 16 year old girl who died on that plane. She was most certainly not an income earner for the family, but they'll still probably get at least $1million. Realistically, I forsee a couple BMW 7-Series and perhaps a nice new deck with built in grill, in her family's future. They'll become millionaires off their daughter's death, you'll
see.
Down the street lives a family whose father was one of the 343 FDNY firefighters killed in the attack. Since then, I've noticed a new upstairs addition, a new pool, and a new backyard fence on the "helpless widow's" home. Not to mention some new landscaping.
If I had the power to change the system, lawsuit plaintiffs would be required to prove a genuine financial need before money could be awarded.
As for the pilots' families, I will bet you dollars to donuts there will be lawyers going after them personally. The pilots' homes, cars, bank accounts, and everything else will be garnished, I guarantee you.