b737gearboy

Boeing Supplier Liable for Crash

By MIKE CRISSEY
.c The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Boeing Co. supplier is mostly to blame for the crash of a US Airways jet that went into a nosedive and slammed into a hillside eight years ago, killing 132 people, a jury decided Friday.

The verdict means Parker Hannifin Corp., which made a valve in the plane's rudder, must reimburse the airline for most of the hundreds of millions of dollars US Airways paid to settle lawsuits brought by the families of those killed in the 1994 crash.

The jury found Parker Hannifin was 75 percent liable for the disaster near Pittsburgh International Airport. Boeing, which made the Boeing 737, was found to be 25 percent liable but will not have to pay any more money because it settled with the airline and victims' families in 1999, said Boeing spokeswoman Liz Verdier.

US Airways has never disclosed how much it paid, but attorneys for some of the victims' families have said the settlements were more than $1 million per passenger.

The jury rejected Parker Hannifin's argument that pilot error contributed to the crash.

``It's great for us that the pilots and the airline were found to have no liability,'' said Bill Pietragallo, US Airways' attorney.

Parker Hannifin spokeswoman Lorrie Paul Crum said the company will probably appeal.

``Our valve worked perfectly even after the crash,'' Crum said. ``They dug it out of the hillside, it worked perfectly.''

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled in 1999 that a malfunction in the rudder control system caused the jet to roll and nosedive. Based on the ruling, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a redesign of the 737's rudder system that is to be completed by 2006.

Parker Hannifin had argued that the flight's first officer, Charles Emmett, overreacted to turbulence caused by a jet ahead of Boeing 737 and inadvertently stalled the plane.

But US Airways called as an expert witness a Boeing 737 pilot who testified that Emmett reacted properly when the plane began to lose control. Emmett was one of five crew members killed.

``Nothing can diminish the human tragedy of this accident and we take no joy in this verdict, but we are grateful that the jury has concluded what the NTSB already has determined - that our crew acted properly and did nothing to contribute to this accident,'' airline spokesman David Castelveter said Friday.

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GO BUCKEYES!!!! NATIONAL CHAMPS!! O----H----I----O

Scott

It is interesting to note that this accident was one of the "watershed events" leading to new training for air carrier pilots. All prior doctrine insisted prevention as the best antidote to unusual attitude situations. Our recovery efforts had been essentially limited to "approach-to-stall" recoveries. New "unusual attitude" scenarios were introduced and continue to be a part recurrent training sessions.
The old mentality is analagous to current FAA thinking for civilian pilots - teaching stall prevention is best to prevent a loss of control leading to a "spin". Far too many general aviation pilots spin into the ground following inadvertent flight into adverse weather. Spin training used to be optional for private pilot candidates. (is this still true.... any CFI's here????)

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Fly the Friendly Skies of United

uniTED takes wing Feb 12, 2004