Crash-land passengers to sue Boeing
Passengers on a plane that crash-landed in Poland last year when its landing gear failed to deploy are suing Boeing and the firm that inspected the airliner before it left the USA.
One lawyer said his clients suffered severe emotional trauma from thinking they were about to die.
A lawsuit claiming both physical and psychological damage was filed this week in Chicago, where Boeing is based, claims design flaws in the 767-300 led to fluid leaking from the hydraulic system.
It said workers of New York-based Mach II Maintenance should have detected it.
Around 230 people were aboard the November 2011 Lot Airlines flight from New Jersey when it hit the runway with sparks flying as its belly scraped the pavement at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport.
The pilot, Captain Tadeusz Wrona, was later hailed as a national hero in Poland after there appeared to be no serious injuries.
But the psychological trauma was intense, as the pilot told passengers over the intercom that the crew had no choice but to land without wheels, the Chicago-area lawyer representing the plaintiffs said.
“You’ve got the pilot telling them that things aren’t looking good, you had people texting their loved ones saying, ’I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again, goodbye’, ” said Floyd Wisner. “There’s the terror that you are about to die.”
Some of the 80 passengers listed as plaintiffs are still plagued by nightmares, he said, and some say they can never set foot on a plane again, Mr Wisner added, calling it “classic post-traumatic stress disorder”.
Boeing spokesman Miles Kotay said the company did not comment on ongoing litigation.
