British Airways passengers who fled plane fire file lawsuit

KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Associated Press


LAS VEGAS (AP) — Passengers who ran from a British Airways flight that caught fire in September before takeoff in Las Vegas are suing the plane's manufacturer and the maker of the engines.

London-based Stewarts Law said Friday it filed a lawsuit in Chicago against GE Aviation and Boeing Co. on behalf of 65 passengers who were bound for London and say they suffered physically and emotionally.

The Boeing 777-200 was moments from takeoff at McCarran International Airport on Sept. 8 before what would have been a 10-hour journey when its left engine burst into flames sending smoke billowing and passengers fleeing.

All 157 passengers and 13 crew members on board the plane survived.

The firm's partner James Healy-Pratt noted in a statement that the passengers don't begrudge British Airways for the incident, saying "the pilots and cabin crew performed heroically in guiding the aircraft to an emergency stop," and evacuating everyone on board.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating the cause but initial findings indicated the fire started with a spool, a key part that powers the plane, inside the left engine.

The lawsuit claims the plane was "defective and unreasonably dangerous," the companies knew the parts were prone to "fracture and failure," and that GE Aviation lobbied against more stringent inspections of the engines before the fire.

The law firm's statement announcing the lawsuit notes a Federal Aviation Administration directive from 2011 that warned of cracks in weld joints of compressor fan spools in similar engines, but GE Aviation has said the directive didn't apply to the engine that burst into flames because it had different parts and an arrangement.

Boeing spokesman Tom Kim said the company doesn't comment on pending litigation.

GE Aviation spokesman Rick Kennedy said the company hadn't seen the lawsuit and wouldn't comment until it did. The company has been inspecting 38 other spools of a similar age and planned to inspect working engines, as well. The company has said the Las Vegas incident was the first engine failure of its kind.

He said the GE90 engine model "is among the most reliable jet engines in commercial aviation history. We continue to monitor and analyze the daily performance of more than 2,000 GE90 engines in airline service and we are not aware of any issues that would hazard the safe flight of aircraft powered by those engines."

The majority of the suing passengers are British but at least six are Americans and several others are from Ireland. Healy-Pratt said he expects the number of plaintiffs to grow to 100 passengers.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-11-28

Yes, and I want 100 million dollars for my pain and sufferings, err, what pain and sufferings? never mind that,

I still want my 100 millions dollars, the lawyers told me I can win,

Edited November 28, 201510 yr by Yoram

The only winners will be the lawyers.

Double or nothing, it's all a gamble.

They should stop all flights to Vegas.

pathetic.

I suspect an American Leech sorry, Lawyer, badgered the passengers to file a claim. Of course on purely altruistic grounds....

Maybe sue the weatherman too? He said it would be sunny, but it was partly cloudy -- why else would he say that if he weren't up to no good?

I suspect an American Leech sorry, Lawyer, badgered the passengers to file a claim. Of course on purely altruistic grounds....

A British one, actually, according to the OP:-

"London-based Stewarts Law said Friday it filed a lawsuit in Chicago against GE Aviation and Boeing Co. on behalf of 65 passengers who were bound for London and say they suffered physically and emotionall"

As Corporate America gains more and more power and wealth and lobby / pay off politicians to remove safety regulations that will enable them to generate more profit and power these type of lawsuits are crucial to protect the general public. $170M for passengers and crew. Plus ALL legal costs and minimum 10 year Jail sentences for each GE executive who were involved in lobbying for reduced safety checks.

That should focus the minds of Corporate America when lobbying / bribing politicians for reduced safety regulations.

The only thing the greed of Corporate America understands is having their precious money taken off them and put in Jail.

Thanks OJAS, I stand corrected...

Ambulance chasers and greedy scum.

Not a good combination.

The firm's partner James Healy-Pratt noted in a statement that the passengers don't begrudge British Airways for the incident, saying "the pilots and cabin crew performed heroically in guiding the aircraft to an emergency stop," and evacuating everyone on board.

Rookie mistake. BA was responsible for maintenance on their aircraft. GE an Boeing lawyers have been handed a gift.

Lawyers, scum of the earth

The firm's partner James Healy-Pratt noted in a statement that the passengers don't begrudge British Airways for the incident, saying "the pilots and cabin crew performed heroically in guiding the aircraft to an emergency stop," and evacuating everyone on board.

Rookie mistake. BA was responsible for maintenance on their aircraft. GE an Boeing lawyers have been handed a gift.

BA? GE? BOEING?

Whoever has the deepest pockets, that's the rule!

Appalling greed from these people.

Anything Mechanical can go wrong it's Sod's Law!

Yes, I saw the Video of these Dumbos walking across the tarmac with their large HAND BAGGAGE which they where instructed to leave behind.

They all looked fine to me!

Trauma and Mental stress My Arse!

So, they broke the Aviation Law by disobeying a lawful command by the crew.

I assure you I am correct as I was BA CREW for 39 Years from Comets to Concorde and all the Boeings.

As an aside …. You take a Gamble when you use any transportation and these people had just visited the Gambling Capitol of the World

LAS VEGAS!!

Edited November 28, 201510 yr by English 1

The federal law in the United States states that in a loss of life via air travel the limit of payment is $100,000 USD for a domestic flight and $1000,000,000 USD for a foreign flight..This is for loss of life and limits at that.I doubt if these azzholes receive anything outside of a free upgrade on their next flight.

The federal law in the United States states that in a loss of life via air travel the limit of payment is $100,000 USD for a domestic flight and $1000,000,000 USD for a foreign flight..This is for loss of life and limits at that.I doubt if these azzholes receive anything outside of a free upgrade on their next flight.

Your $1 Billion for an international flight seems rather high. You might want to check that one out.

The federal law in the United States states that in a loss of life via air travel the limit of payment is $100,000 USD for a domestic flight and $1000,000,000 USD for a foreign flight..This is for loss of life and limits at that.I doubt if these azzholes receive anything outside of a free upgrade on their next flight.

Your $1 Billion for an international flight seems rather high. You might want to check that one out.

Sorry I meant $1,000,000 USD,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,DJ

The only way to keep Corporate America in check is the ability to be sued. Yes there may be frivolous lawsuits but this lawsuit is probably not one of them...

The airline should countersue the passengers (many) who stopped to pull their hand luggage from the overhead bins endangering others.

The firm's partner James Healy-Pratt noted in a statement that the passengers don't begrudge British Airways for the incident, saying "the pilots and cabin crew performed heroically in guiding the aircraft to an emergency stop," and evacuating everyone on board.

Rookie mistake. BA was responsible for maintenance on their aircraft. GE an Boeing lawyers have been handed a gift.

BA? GE? BOEING?

Whoever has the deepest pockets, that's the rule!

The fuel in the engines has links to BP.......

Too all the lawyer bashing posters here

If Thai lawyers took cases on a contingency basis maybe, just maybe, you might be able to get a little justice in this country

Trust me, legal proceedings go a lot faster when the lawyers are waiting for their big pay day

Reminds me of a story.

In Atlanta, USD; there was a bus accident on a friday afternoon. Video shows that there were 19 people on the bus.

On Monday afternoon, 122 people had filed a claim which said they were injured in the accident.