Comair Passenger Blame Claim Withdrawn

[EMB170Pilot]

Source - AvWeb

January 28, 2008
Comair Passenger Blame Claim Withdrawn
By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief


The lawyer for the first officer and only survivor of Comair Flight 5191 says he has withdrawn a controversial defense strategy in which the passengers who died on the flight were held partly responsible for their deaths. They along with the pilot and a flight attendant died after the aircraft took off from the wrong runway at Lexington, Ky.'s airport in August of 2006. As part of first officer James Polehinke's defense against the numerous lawsuits against him, his lawyer William E. Johnson wrote in the statement of defense that the passengers should have known that taking a commercial flight from the airport was a perilous affair because of well-publicized construction on the runways. He also claimed they should have known that the air traffic control tower was understaffed, that other airports in the area were considered safer and that flying in the dark is dangerous.


The striking assertions were covered as "contributory negligence" in the original filings and the details only came out after he was pressed for more details by plaintiffs' lawyers. The other lawyers were stunned by the defense. "It was the most surprising affirmative defense I've ever seen," said trial lawyer David Katzman. But Johnson said the controversy is "old news" and he doesn't intend to pursue that line. "After we looked into it more we found it is not a proper defense," he said.


http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/ComairPassenger_BlameClaimWithdrawn_197031-1.html

*edit* copy and pasted full story

 

[regionalcap]

Just when you think you've heard it all. It amazes me what some of these lawyers can dream up.

 

[Jmoney]

Sue Carter....

I think I am gonna go and sue Jimmy Carter for "contributory negligence" based on the fact that he totally destoriyed our once world-leading airline industry through deregulation. He should have known that this would result in a totally screwed-up industry that gives its product away year after year for far less than the product costs to produce.

I guess Jimmy could possibly offer a defense of being not guilty by reason of being a complete and total moron. The rest of the stuff he did as president would certainly bolster that defense.

 

[Dubya]

I think I am gonna go and sue Jimmy Carter for "contributory negligence" based on the fact that he totally destoriyed our once world-leading airline industry through deregulation. He should have known that this would result in a totally screwed-up industry that gives its product away year after year for far less than the product costs to produce.

I guess Jimmy could possibly offer a defense of being not guilty by reason of being a complete and total moron. The rest of the stuff he did as president would certainly bolster that defense.

Yeah...cause' the government runs things so much better.

W

 

[John Pennekamp]

I think I am gonna go and sue Jimmy Carter for "contributory negligence" based on the fact that he totally destoriyed our once world-leading airline industry through deregulation. He should have known that this would result in a totally screwed-up industry that gives its product away year after year for far less than the product costs to produce.

I guess Jimmy could possibly offer a defense of being not guilty by reason of being a complete and total moron. The rest of the stuff he did as president would certainly bolster that defense.

I blame capitalism for that, not the president who unleashed it. The fierce competition between the airlines has made competitiveness more important than profitability.

That and money hungry, greedy managers who have raped the industry and lined their pockets.

 

[Guitar Guy]

"After we looked into it more we found it is not a proper defense," he said.

That says a lot for the IQ of those lawyers. They had to "look into it" to find out that claiming the passengers were negligent in not knowing that the tower was understaffed or that they should have known that flying during darkness was dangerous are not "proper defenses".

If it is unsafe to fly at night or during darkness, what does that say about their client's willingness to fly before sunrise? Don't misinterpret that as being about the first officer but rather about the specious reasoning of the attorney.

 

[ILS8L]

question?

What is the difference between a lawyer and a catfish?


One is a scum-sucking bottom feeder, the other is a fish.

 

[atlcrashpad]

What is the difference between a lawyer and a catfish?


One is a scum-sucking bottom feeder, the other is a fish.

Er'body hates lawya's til day needz juan..... Bouyyyyyy.... gets me a lawya I be dun gots carpel tunnels sindrome...... ouchhhhhh bouyyyyyyyy.....

 

[Guitar Guy]

Just like doctors or teachers, there are good lawyers and bad ones. If you need one, be sure to look for one of the former and not one of the latter.

 

[CA1900]

If your lawyer advertises on TV, that's a good sign he's one of the latter.

 

[B727FA]

I blame capitalism for that, not the president who unleashed it.

And capitalism is bad...

 

[Oakum_Boy]

You too can get paid $20,000 a year and when you screw up get sued for $200,000,000 and the rest of your life will be ruined not to mention the physical and emotional pain you will have to deal with.

Please remind me what I am doing here.

 

[Jmoney]

Capitalism.....

I blame capitalism for that, not the president who unleashed it. The fierce competition between the airlines has made competitiveness more important than profitability.

That and money hungry, greedy managers who have raped the industry and lined their pockets.

This ain't about capitalism-it is about protecting the infrastructure of an industry that is critical to our economy. There should be a certain minimum level of fees for flying. The problem arises when one carrier is allowed to enter and exit bankruptcy multiple times undercut the fares that everyone would be getting. It is not right to allow horribly run airlines to use bankruptcy as a crutch-it only harms better-run airlines. There is no doubt that USair should be out of business-possibly even United. Those two companies have been so poorly run for so long that they have brought the bar down for the whole industry.

-Carter was the most pathetic excuse for a president any western nation has ever had. Don't get me started on the oil embargo, hostage crisis, Venezuela and Hugo Chavez.... What a loser!

 

[John Pennekamp]

This ain't about capitalism-it is about protecting the infrastructure of an industry that is critical to our economy. There should be a certain minimum level of fees for flying. The problem arises when one carrier is allowed to enter and exit bankruptcy multiple times undercut the fares that everyone would be getting. It is not right to allow horribly run airlines to use bankruptcy as a crutch-it only harms better-run airlines. There is no doubt that USair should be out of business-possibly even United. Those two companies have been so poorly run for so long that they have brought the bar down for the whole industry.

-Carter was the most pathetic excuse for a president any western nation has ever had. Don't get me started on the oil embargo, hostage crisis, Venezuela and Hugo Chavez.... What a loser!

I don't disagree with that. It did contribute to the problem.