Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Cause of Jet Crash Announced Over a Year Later - Thursday, April 10, 2008
The pilots of a jet that crashed last summer killing 49 people left the terminal without receiving four very important airport advisories, including one that said the normal taxiway to the main runway was closed. The four updates, called Notices to Airmen, were missing from the flight dispatch paperwork the pilots receive from Comair.Comair relies on pre-recorded messages to get local advisories from Kentucky's Blue Grass Airport, but the taxiway closing was not recorded on August 27, 2006 when Comair Flight 5191 crashed after mistakenly taking off from the general aviation runway killing all people aboard but one. The plane taxied down the wrong runway.
The pilots also did not receive information about the airport's general aviation runway being limited to daytime use and about the distance-remaining lights on the airport's main runway being out of service. The airplane crash happened in the pre-dawn darkness. Pilots assert that the current notice system is outdated and isn't always readily available.
Each day, anywhere from 300-1,000 notices are issued across the nation and can contain anything from departure procedures to airport construction notices.
Prosecutors Anxiously Await Judge's Decision in Asbestos Lawsuit - Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Several people sickened by asbestos from a Washington state mine continue to hope for a trial as federal appellate judges consider the future of the government's case against mine operator, W.R. Grace & Company. Last year, a United States District Court judge decided to ban federal prosecutors' use of documents, studies and testimony by expert witnesses, and this decision derailed efforts to bring the mine and seven of its former and current senior executives and managers to trial last year.Allegedly, the Grace company and its officials knew about devastating health effects tied to asbestos exposure but concealed this information; consequently, many residents in the mining town of Libby, Washington are dying or have already died from mesothelioma, asbestosis and other asbestos-related disease. The charges against the company and the officials include criminal conspiracy and knowing endangerment.
Assistant United States Attorney Kris McClean of Montana and Todd Aagaard from the Justice Department said the judge's rulings forbid the government from presenting information drawn from Grace's own asbestos testing. The judge also forbids the results of a government study that found more than 1,300 of 7,000 Libby residents tested had lunch abnormalities consistent with asbestos-related disease.
On June 4, 2007, federal lawyers asked the 9th Circuit to overturn Judge Molloy's rulings and are awaiting the court's decision on whether or not the trial will move forward.
Man's Body Found Near Train Tracks in Illinois - Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The body of a 47-year-old man was found near train tracks in Fox River Grove, Illinois, and it is believed that he was hit by a Union Pacific freight train. His death has been ruled an accident, but there is an ongoing investigation.Police hope to find additional answers to determine how the man was killed and to determine if the train operator or train line was at fault in the accident. If the man's death was caused by the train operator, his family may be able to recover damages for his wrongful death.
Air Force Sued Over Girl's Death on New Jersey Base - Monday, April 7, 2008
The mother of a four-year-old girl who died while living on an Air Force Base due to abuse by her stepmother has sued the Air Force for negligence in her daughter's death. Zakiyya Sabree has accused the Air Force of failing to inform her an abuse investigation against her daughter's stepmother and of failing to keep track of her daughter while living on base.The child, Nailah Sabree-Williams, was killed May 15, 2004 after severe physical abuse by her stepmother, April Williams. Williams pleaded guilty two years ago to voluntary manslaughter and is in prison until 2013. Williams husband the girl's father, Air Force Staff Sergeant Donnyell Williams, who was living with his wife and daughter at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, shared custody with the girl's mother.
The girl went to live with the Williamses on the base in October 2003, and in early November, a neighbor alerted base officials that she had been locked out of the house, naked and crying in freezing temperatures. The lawsuit claims that at that time, the base Family Maltreatment Case Management Team opened an investigation into the matter. Unaware of the abuse, because she had not been notified of the incident, the mother of the girl allowed her to stay with her father and stepmother until May 2004. When Staff Sgt. Williams was sent to Texas, he left his daughter alone with her stepmother, and the stepmother killed her.
Sabree is seeking damages in excess of $300,000 from the Air Force; Sabree also filed a wrongful death suit against the girl's father seeking damages in excess of $200,000.
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