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RockBottom 12-24-2005 11:30 AM

Southwest MDW accident pax sues
 
Dec. 24, 2005, 11:46AM

Southwest passenger in runway mishap sues
Associated Press

CHICAGO — A woman who was aboard a Southwest Airlines jet when it slid off the end of a runway at Midway International Airport in a snowstorm earlier this month sued the airline and the city Friday.

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Bernice James' lawsuit claims the Dallas-based airline was careless and negligent in landing the plane on the snowy runway on Dec. 8, causing her to suffer "severe fear and terror, emotional distress" and physical injuries.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court and seeks unspecified damages, does not give details about her injuries.

James of Chicago also contends the city failed to properly inspect the runway and should have closed Midway because of "unsafe and adverse conditions."

Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Paula Berg declined comment Friday. Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city's legal department, said she had not seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment.

Earlier this week, two other passengers aboard the Baltimore-to-Chicago flight sued Southwest, the city and Chicago-based Boeing Co.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident, which killed 6-year-old Joshua Woods of Leroy, Ind. He was inside a car crushed by the plane when it skidded off the end of a runway, through a fence and into the street.

His family's attorney, Ronald Stearney Jr., said Friday he intends to file a lawsuit but would not say when.

KiloAlpha 12-24-2005 11:38 AM

I doubt she will be the only passenger litigating with SWA, many others with undoubtedly follow the money trail also.

ERJ135 12-24-2005 11:39 AM

It kinda funny you can land an airplane through thousands of landings and you screw up once and nobody will let you forget it.

Rama 12-24-2005 12:22 PM

Not if you kill someone.

ERJ135 12-24-2005 12:41 PM

Very, true

OldAg84 12-27-2005 04:54 AM

Unfortunately, we Americans live in a society where being involved in an accident can become one's winning lottery ticket- even if you were not severly injured. We all pay a price every time we purchase an item or service (I'm shopping for general business liability insurance today!) and; deserving or not, there is a sense of- "I'm going to collect, after all I've "paid" into it all these years to pay for all the other scoundrels who have abused the system." I can't say I blame them entirely.

That said, lawsuits in America have made cars safer (think Pinto), drug companies accountable (think thalidomide or maybe VIOXX), and the environment cleaner (think Superfund, Love Canal, etc). These improvements have come at a high monetary cost and obviously have not solved the issues clearly or completely- but I'll let someone start another thread to avoid thread drift.

Clearly, a mistake was made at Midway- the NTSB report will no doubt be specific. A boy was killed and that's a tragedy no amount will compensate for. Any others not truly injured (and to be fair- that can be difficult to determine) are simply acting, for better or worse, within the system as it stands today.

nwafo 12-27-2005 05:37 AM

MDW Accident
 
Why do passengers sue that aren't really hurt? Lawyers...money hungry Lawyers. I hope the Judge tosses the bunch out of the courtroom.

The little boys family….have a case….that is sad and very unfortunate.

OldAg84 12-27-2005 06:37 AM

To distill my previous post in repsonse to your question-

1. Because they can;
2. Because they are actually hurt or traumatized;
3. or, they are trying to recover some of they money they've paid into the system through higher costs:
4. some combination of the above.

My wife is an attorney and got out of it, in part, because in a lot of the ways people think, it can be a scam.

aspiring_pilot 12-29-2005 12:47 AM

i agree nwafo. bunch of ambulance chasing attorney and *****s that want to exploit a tragedy. if she would have been ejected from her seat, and came down on an upright armrest, which proceeded to go in her ass... i can definately see a lawsuit... but comon nothin happened to her.

get a job you bum


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