Companies Accept Responsibility and Publicly Apologize to the Families of the January 8, 2003 Air Midwest Flight 5481 Crash in Charlotte, North Carolina
Pastor Douglas and Tereasa Shepherd, who lost their 18 year-old daughter, Christiana, in the crash, invited all the victims' families to attend today's event. The Shepherd family, their attorneys and approximately six other families gathered at the memorial crash site this morning to witness the public apology by Air Midwest and its maintenance company, Vertex Aerospace.
Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) May 6, 2005 -- The last family to settle a wrongful
death claim stemming from the Air Midwest crash of January 8, 2003 at the
Charlotte-Douglas International Airport demanded as part of their settlement
terms that those responsible for the crash hold themselves accountable and
publicly apologize to the victims' families.
Pastor Douglas and Tereasa
Shepherd, who lost their 18 year-old daughter, Christiana, in the crash, invited
all the victims' families to attend today's event. The Shepherd family, their
attorneys and approximately six other families gathered at the memorial crash
site this morning to witness the public apology by Air Midwest and its
maintenance company, Vertex Aerospace (now known as L-3 Communications
Aerotech). The prepared statement read by Greg Stephens, President of Air
Midwest stated:
"We are here today to remember the victims of Flight 5481
and to offer our apologies, condolences and sincere sympathy to the surviving
family members of the passengers and crew who perished in the January 8, 2003
crash of Air Midwest Flight Number 5481. We are deeply saddened by your loss.
The National Transportation Safety Board's investigation disclosed errors which
caused and contributed to this tragic accident. We participated fully with the
NTSB in its investigation and understand our roles leading up to the crash. Air
Midwest and its maintenance provider, Vertex, acknowledge deficiencies, which
together with the wording of the aircraft maintenance manuals, contributed to
this accident. This tragedy has caused us to investigate rigorously our policies
and guidelines regarding aircraft maintenance, operation and safety in general.
We have taken substantial measures to prevent similar accidents and incidents in
the future, so that your losses will not have been suffered in vain. We have
also implemented or are implementing the applicable NTSB safety recommendations
following this accident. We are truly sorry, and regret and apologize to
everyone affected by this tragic event."
Christiana
Shepherd, an Interior Design major, was returning to school after a Christmas
break with her parents when Flight 5481 crashed. She is survived by her parents
and four siblings, Amanda, Juliana, Stephen, and Andrew.
The Shepherds'
attorneys, Baum Hedlund, also represented the surviving family of another Air
Midwest victim, Keith Coyner, a GNC Vice President.
The lawsuits filed by
Baum Hedlund alleged that the Beech 1900-D was improperly loaded and experienced
acute problems with its flight controls due to a disastrously rigged elevator
pitch control system. This caused the airplane to rise straight up right after
take-off, stall and crash, killing 21 people on board.
The Shepherds' case was the last to resolve. Although
a substantial monetary settlement was also involved, the Shepherds' primary
focus had been to require accountability by the defendants, either by trial or
by public apology, for the operation, maintenance and design deficiencies that
caused the aircrash. A trial was avoided as a result of today's public apology
by Air Midwest and Vertex.
Baum Hedlund's lead negotiator and trial
counsel for this settlement was aviation attorney Ronald L. M. Goldman (former
Judge Pro Tem, arbitrator, mediator and adjunct aviation accident law
professor). Other members of Baum Hedlund's aviation team that represented the
Shepherd and Coyner families, John Greaves (a former airline captain), Paul
Hedlund and Michael Baum, also attended today's ceremony.
"We are pleased
to be hearing this apology. We wish to thank the attorneys and staff at Baum
Hedlund for sharing our goal and working diligently to see it advanced in this
way today. Our goal is to strengthen commercial airline safety, in part by
holding airlines accountable for their actions and encouraging them to remedy
their mistakes to avoid future tragedy. We would also like to see the FAA play a
more active role in the oversight and regulation of outsourced maintenance. The
loss of a child, sibling, spouse or parent is devastating to any family; all
that can be done to avoid such loss should and must be done. The bottom line
must always be people, not profit," Pastor Douglas and Tereasa Shepherd
stated.
"Pastor Douglas and Tereasa Shepherd had the
fortitude, tenacity and courage to allow us to press their case. We were able to
accomplish their primary demand of requiring airline and maintenance company
public acceptance of accountability accompanied by their pledge to work more
rigorously to ensure the safety of airline passengers. It is most gratifying
that we have been able to achieve their goals," attorney Ronald Goldman
stated.
Baum Hedlund has represented clients in more than 50 airline
crashes over the last 20 years, including membership on the Plaintiffs' Steering
Committee and Trial Team for the 1994 Charlotte crash of US Airways Flight 1016;
they also currently serve on the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee for the 9/11
Aircrash Litigation.
Television footage of the apology can be obtained by
calling Bonnie Rosen at WCNC NBC Charlotte at 704-358-5532.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb237578.htm