I just got off riding the jumpseat courtesy of Comair. Thank you btw Gentlemen....very classy group you are.

But one of them was telling me about a punitive damages case being heard right now that started on the 16th of July. It had to do with possibly paying punitive damages for the Lexington crash.

Any traction to this? And if so...whats the best case and worst case scenario for the outcome of the case?

 

Best case is no punitive damages. Worst case is "the sky's the limit".

 

Tuesday, Apr. 20, 2010

Judge sets July date for Comair trial

Claim for punitive damages to be heard

By Jennifer Hewlett - [email protected]


A jury trial on punitive damages in a case pitting the family of a victim of the August 2006 crash of Comair Flight 5191 against the airline has been scheduled for July 19 in U.S. District Court in Lexington.
U.S. Senior Judge Karl S. Forester set the trial date in an order issued Thursday.


In December, Jamie Hebert, the widow of Flight 5191 passenger Bryan Keith Woodward, and her two daughters were awarded $7.1 million in compensatory damages from Comair. The family's attorney said afterward that the family also would seek punitive damages against Comair for its alleged gross negligence that caused the crash.



Flight 5191 crashed after taking off from the wrong runway at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport, a general-aviation runway deemed too short for large commercial jets. Forty-nine of the 50 people on board died. The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots' failure to notice that they were on the wrong runway was the main cause of the accident.


Forester established a detailed timetable for attorneys in the case to file information with the court — including witness and exhibit lists — in preparation for the trial on punitive damages. The judge said the parties in the suit are to conduct a "good-faith settlement conference" no later than June 15, and if a settlement is reached, they are to "promptly notify the court." Forester scheduled a pretrial conference for June 22. The judge said that the court was requiring strict compliance with the terms of the order and that failure to comply would result in sanctions.


Woodward's family is the only one of the families of the 47 passengers who died that did not reach an out-of-court settlement. Most of the lawsuits filed by crash victims' families were settled in August 2008, just before they were scheduled for trial. The settlements, which were confidential, did not include punitive damages, lawyers for the plaintiffs have said.


David Rapoport, the attorney for Jamie Hebert and her daughters, said he was appreciative that a date for a trial on punitive damages has been set.
"We are considering what we will argue now (including amounts) and will not make final decisions about our arguments until the trial," Rapoport said via e-mail.


Comair spokeswoman Christine Wever said Monday, "As we have been from the beginning, we remain committed to doing what is reasonable and appropriate for the victim's family."


The $7.1 million awarded to Woodward's family included $5 million to the two daughters for loss of parental consortium.


Comair asked for a new trial or for the court to lower the amounts awarded for the daughters, saying they were excessive. The airline asked that daughter Mattie Kay Hebert, for whom the jury awarded $3 million, receive no more than $600,000. The airline wanted daughter Lauren Madison Hebert, who was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages, to receive no more than $200,000.


Forester denied Comair's motion earlier this month.

 

Friday, Jul. 16, 2010

Comair trial delayed by court

The Associated Press



LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A federal court has delayed a jury trial that was set to begin next week to decide whether Comair owes the family of a victim of a 2006 plane crash tens of millions in punitive damages.


A court motion was issued Friday ordering attorneys for Comair and Jamie Hebert, the widow of Comair 5191 victim Bryan Keith Woodward, to decide whether they would prefer to move the trial to December, January, 2011, or February, 2011.


Hebert was awarded more than $7 million in compensatory damages at a separate trial last December. The new trial will look more closely at the actions of the pilots, who steered the plane onto the wrong runway at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport on Aug. 27, 2006, killing 49 of 50 on board.



Read more: Comair trial delayed by court - State & Regional - Wire - Kentucky.com

 

Best case - Comair settles out of court, fleet guarantee expires in January, Comair is gone Spring 2011 and Delta blames it on our labor costs.

Worst case - Comair loses, Delta gets mad at us again, fleet guarantee expires in January, Comair is gone Spring 2011 and Delta blames it on Lexington.

 

Nice!
.....

 

It would certainly change the course of the airlines if punitive damages can be awarded. Particularly if the major airline can be somehow be linked to a regional crash (unlikely).

In the end I think Comair can just say that they did their due diligence by training their crews to the FAA's standards. They will say the gov't is to blame and that will be that.

 

Delta can time travel?!

 

Gone Spring 2010...looks like you are wrong already. If you`re gonna post, at least read your own crap!!

 

Nah, I just had a trailblazer moment and got the year wrong. I edited my post to 2011.