This story will be updated.
Two wrongful-death lawsuits were filed in Jefferson Circuit Court on Dec. 3, claiming negligence on the part of several major companies affiliated with UPS Flight 2976, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Muhammad Ali International Airport on Nov. 4, killing 14 people.
The two mostly similar lawsuits were filed on behalf of the families of Angela Anderson, 45, and Trina Chavez, 37. Each lawsuit seeks punitive damages.
Anderson, a mother of three daughters and a son, was throwing away scraps at the Class A Auto Parts and Recycling Center when the plane crashed. She remodeled the house. She turns 46 on November 23rd.
Chavez, a 37-year-old mother of two, works for an A-list company.
The lawsuits involve UPS and UPS Air, as well as engine manufacturer GE, and Boeing Co., which acquired McDonnell Douglas, the original manufacturer of the MD-11. It also names VT San Antonio Aerospace Inc., or VT SAA, an engineering and aerospace company. The company provides maintenance and repair services for MD-11 aircraft owned by UPS, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that UPS and UPS Air negligently allowed the MD-11 to fly “despite the presence of a defect or unsafe condition affecting the left wing, left engine or related components.”
They also claim that engine manufacturer GE failed to use safe methods to “adequately design, manufacture, maintain and/or operate the CF6 engines on UPS flight 2976.”
The lawsuit alleges that Boeing and VT SAA knew or should have known that the MD-11s used on Flight 2976 were “in disrepair or otherwise dangerous and unsafe.”
The Courier Journal asked GE, Boeing and VT San Antonio Aerospace for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
UPS spokespersons Michelle Polk and Jim Mayer said on Dec. 2 and Jim Mayer, respectively, that company employees “remain deeply saddened by the lives of those affected by Flight 2976.”
“UPS fully supports the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation of the accident and is working tirelessly with federal, state and local authorities on the response,” the statement said. “We do not comment on pending litigation.”
Attorney Sam Aguiar of Aguiar Injury Lawyers in Louisville and attorneys with Clifford Law Office in Chicago represent the families.
Clifford Law Offices and founding partner Robert A. Clifford have represented families of plane crash victims for the past four decades, including 9/11.
Initial reports and fleet grounding
The US National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the accident on November 20. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the left engine separated from the plane and caught fire. The report also said the investigation found evidence of “fatigue cracks” where the left tower tail mounting lug broke.
The engine is attached to the aircraft via a pylon. The pylon is attached to the underside of the wing to provide mounting points for the engines.
Parts of the left engine were found on an adjacent runway, The Courier Journal previously reported.
Boeing recommended on Nov. 7 that all operators of the MD-11 – including FedEx and Western Universal – ground the planes. UPS has temporarily grounded its MD-11 fleet, which accounts for about 9% of UPS Airlines’ fleet, according to the company.
Subsequently, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency airworthiness directive on November 8, prohibiting the MD-11 from continuing to fly.
On November 14, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued another emergency airworthiness directive, grounding nine other similar aircraft models, including similarly designed models such as the MD-10 and DC-10. The FAA directive states that these aircraft “are subject to the same unsafe conditions as the MD-11.”
“UPS has proactively grounded its MD-11 fleet out of an abundance of caution pending the issuance of an Emergency Airworthiness Directive by the FAA to all MD-11 operators,” UPS said in a statement on November 20. “We thank the National Transportation Safety Board for the timely release of preliminary findings and will fully support the investigation as it reaches its conclusion.”
UPS officials believe it will be months before MD-11 returns to the skies, according to an internal letter obtained by The Courier Journal and later confirmed by a UPS spokesman.
The letter, sent to employees the week of Nov. 24 by UPS Airlines President Bill Moore, said the company’s MD-11 fleet will require inspections and possible repairs that are more extensive than initially thought.
Moore said in the letter that the planes are expected to be grounded for “months, not weeks as originally anticipated.”
Killian Barral, Monroe Trombly, Connor Giffin, Olivia Evans and Matthew Glowicki contributed to this report.
Stephanie Kuzydym is an investigative corporate and sports reporter. Contact her: skuzydym@courier-journal.com or on social networking sites @stephkuzy.
This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal: Families of UPS crash victims file lawsuit
