A Strategy for AA331 Client Passengers

01/11/10

The legal team of Kingston-based Wilson Franklyn Barnes and Texas-based Slack & Davis, L.L.P. announced today that its first responsibility in representing American Airlines Flight 331 passenger interests will be to place a sharp focus on responsible parties in order to expedite claims and compensation for passengers.

Aviation attorney Michael L. Slack of Slack & Davis made the announcement while in Jamaica to meet with client passengers of American Airlines Flight 331. With him were Slack & Davis partner and fellow aviation attorney Ladd Sanger and co-counsel Delano Franklyn of Wilson Franklyn Barnes.

According to the Jamaican investigative authorities, who are being assisted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States, there has been no indication of any mechanical failure in the aircraft that was contributory to the crash.

Slack, one of the lead attorneys involved in investigating and preparing a case against American Airlines arising from the crash of American Airlines Flight 1420 in Little Rock, Arkansas, stated, “There appears to be no factual basis for criticism of the Boeing aircraft. The aircraft appeared to perform exactly as it was designed. If there was a malfunction, it was in the judgment of the American Airlines pilots who were reckless in their decision to continue the approach and attempt to land in Kingston during a driving rain storm.”

Slack, who is a former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) senior aerospace engineer and licensed pilot, added, “American Airlines and its pilots had ultimate responsibility for the safe operation of this flight. They are the accountable party. While the investigation is incomplete, the existing factual record points to American Airlines as the responsible party, not the Boeing Company.”

Slack went further to state, “Involving inappropriate and improper parties slows and delays ultimate compensation to the passengers. From our experience handling airline cases over the years, we have found that the most expedient procedure is to go directly after the airline when pilot conduct is implicated and force the airline to defend its actions. Fooling around with parties that have nothing to do with the outcome of a crash wastes time, money and is not in the passengers’ best interest.”

In the litigation arising from American Airlines Flight 1420, a 1999 air crash extremely similar to AA331, Michael Slack was one of the trial attorneys who took the lead in developing the liability case against American Airlines. He was co-lead trial counsel in Manus v. American Airlines, a case tried for passengers Stephanie Manus and her two children. The Manus verdict was the only passenger injury verdict in the AA1420 litigation affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

American Airlines Flight 331 crashed at the Norman Manley International Airport on December 22, 2009. The Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) released a factual information report about the crash on January 6, 2010.

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