Lawsuits seek damages for Brazil crash

Lawsuits seek damages for Brazil crash

	Published : Sat, 31 Mar 2007 00:06 By : Agencies Print this Story

MIAMI (AP) - A series of lawsuits were filed Friday in federal court seeking millions of dollars in damages for alleged negligence stemming from an aircraft collision that led to Brazil's worst air disaster.

The 16 lawsuits, filed on behalf of family members of some of the 154 people who died, contend that several problems combined to cause a collision between an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet and a Gol airlines Boeing 737, which went down in the Amazon rain forest Sept. 29.

'I think we are going to find out, like in all of these tragedies, that it wasn't a single mistake. It was a series of mistakes,' said Steven C. Marks, lawyer for the families filing the lawsuits.

A precise damages dollar figure is not mentioned in the court filings, but Marks said it would be in the millions of dollars.

The Legacy was heading northwest on its maiden voyage from the southern city of Sao Jose dos Campos to the United States when the accident occurred at 37,000 feet, an altitude usually reserved for flights headed in the opposite direction.

The lawsuits name Embraer's owner, Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based ExcelAire and the two U.S. pilots who survived, Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino. The jet's pilots failed to maintain proper altitude, didn't maintain proper communication with Brazilian air traffic controllers and didn't operate the aircraft properly, the lawsuit contends.

A key to the cases is the aircraft's transponder, which Brazilian authorities say was either turned off by the pilots and malfunctioned. The transponder operates the aircraft's anti-collision system.

ExcelAire declined comment because the company had not seen the lawsuits, said spokeswoman Lisa Hendrickson. In January the company said in a statement that the pilots did not disengage the transponder and that there were no indications in the cockpit of a failure.

The pilots have been accused by Brazilian authorities with exposing an aircraft to danger. Both pilots were forced to remain in Brazil for 71 days after the crash, but were allowed to leave after agreeing to return to face any criminal charges.

Brazilian investigators have also said that air traffic controllers bear some responsibility for the crash.

The lawsuits filed in Miami also level negligence and products liability claims against the maker of the transponder, Honeywell International Inc. Officials at that corporation declined comment because they had not yet seen the lawsuits.

'Honeywell, however is unaware of any evidence that its equipment was defective or had malfunctioned in any way. The company will vigorously defend itself in this matter,' according to a statement e-mailed by a spokesman.

In addition, the lawsuits contend that a factor in the crash were defects in an air traffic control system known as the System for the Vigilance of the Amazon, or SIVAM. The lawsuits name as defendants Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. and two other companies that developed and maintained that system.

Lockheed Martin spokesman Scott Lusk said the claims are without merit and that the system 'functioned properly and was not a factor in the collision.'

Several other lawsuits have been filed elsewhere in the United States by family members of those killed, Marks said. The Miami lawsuits are the largest number in a single jurisdiction, he said.