| Continental Connection Flight 3407 |
Crashed on February 12, 2009, into a house in Clarence Center near Buffalo, New York What should have been a routine Newark-to-Buffalo flight ended in tragedy as the Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 crashed into a house, killing all 49 people on board and a man on the ground. Initial National Transportation Safety Board hearings revealed numerous mistakes made by inexperienced, fatigued pilots and an aircraft that should have been better equipped. Clifford Law Offices represents a number of families who lost loved ones. |
| Comair Flight 5191 |
Crashed on August 27, 2006, as it attempted to take off at Lexington, Kentucky’s Blue Grass Airport A crew on an early morning flight violated the sterile cockpit rule when they weren’t paying close attention and used a runway that was unlit and too short. Air traffic control violations in the tower also could have prevented this tragedy that led to the deaths of 47 passengers and two crew members. Clifford Law Offices represented five families including a Canadian passenger on board |
| Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 |
Crashed into family car on December 8, 2005, at Midway Airport on Chicago’s South Side It was snowing that day and investigators found that the pilots of the aircraft took too long to slow the plane down. It crashed through a fence barrier and wound up in the middle of traffic. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in its investigation also found the airlines’ system of measuring slick runways was inadequate. The following year the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a $15 million grant to Midway Airport to improve runway safety. For little Joshua Woods and his family, it was too late, but the runways are said to be more safe now because of him. |
| Helios Airways Flight HCY 522 |
Crashed on August 14, 2005, into a hill near Athens, Greece Robert Clifford was appointed liaison counsel in the lawsuits involving the Cypriot jet that crashed in Greece killing 121 people aboard, several of them Americans. The Boeing 737-300 crashed into a hill near Athens after pilots apparently fell unconscious following a drop in the cabin’s pressure. Chicago-based Boeing has since revised its training manuals to correct design defects regarding pressurization. |
| Turkish Airlines Flight 634 |
Crashed on January 8, 2003, near Diyarbakir Airport in Turkey In bad weather, the pilots insisted on landing in thick fog in southeastern Turkey. 75 passengers and crew members were aboard when the airliner crashed as it approached Diyarbakir Airport. Clifford Law Offices represented the wife of a Chicago architect who was traveling to Turkey on business, the only American citizen on board. |
| American Airlines Flight 587 |
Crashed in a residential neighborhood of New York November 12, 2002 Taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport, Flight 587 was headed to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. On that flight were Ilya and Marra Filanovsky, an elderly couple – a lawyer and a doctor from Russia who settled in Flushing, New York. Also on that flight was Reynida Delgado who was going to visit her father to celebrate her birthday. Minutes after leaving, the plane’s vertical stabilizer and rudder separated in flight and were found in the bay. Subsequently, the airplane’s engines separated in flight and were found several blocks from the main wreckage site. All 260 people aboard were killed along with five people on the ground. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the crash was the first officer’s actions during take-off, and contributing to the crash was the faulty design of the aircraft. |
| American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 |
Crashed on September 11, 2001, into the World Trade Towers in New York City Robert Clifford is serving as liaison counsel for all of the interests that lost property after al Qaeda terrorists hijacked and piloted the two Boeing 767 aircraft that slammed into the 110-story steel structures on 9/11. Numerous lawsuits were filed against American Airlines, and United Airlines for their multiple failures in properly screening the terrorists that eventually boarded these flights. These complex suits are brought on behalf of insurance companies and business interests from around the globe who suffered billions of dollars in losses after the twin towers collapsed that fateful morning, permanently wiping them from the New York skyline and forever changing the world. |
| Singapore Air Flight 006 |
Crashed October 31, 2000, after takeoff at Taipei, Taiwan airport A Boeing 747 airplane entered the incorrect runway at Chiang-KaiShek Airport in Taiwan. In heavy rain and strong winds, the airplane rolled during the take-off and collided with runway construction equipment, bursting into flames. 83 people died, including four crew members. 44 others were injured. Clifford Law Offices represented the family of Jeffrey W. Platz, 36, of Utah, who died in the crash while traveling on business. |
| Alaska Air Flight 261 |
Crashed on January 31, 2000, in the Pacific Ocean There is an answer to the question of what caused an airline disaster. It takes painstaking research and investigation to uncover the truth. In the crash of AlaskaAir Flight 261, following Clifford Law Offices taking nearly 100 depositions, it all came down to this jackscrew. Clifford Law Offices represented seven families who lost loved ones and obtained more than $40 million in settlements. Following three years of depositions led by Kevin Durkin who served as a member of the Administrative/Management Committee and the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the litigation, Boeing agreed to a judgment of liability despite the corporate giant getting a virtual pass from the National Transportation Safety Board in its determination of the cause of the crash. |
| EgyptAir Flight 990 |
Crashed October 31, 1999, near Nantucket, Massachusetts Clifford Law Offices represented 80-year-old Eugenia Rhodes who died with the other 216 people aboard. The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 60 miles south of Nantucket after taking off from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and headed for Cairo, Egypt. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the crash was an error on the part of the first officer. Eugenia left a husband who is legally blind and relied on his wife for her help. |
| American Airlines Flight 1420 |
Crashed in Little Rock, Arkansas, on June 1, 1999 The Simmons brothers were students at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Jim, Jr., 22, a youth minister, and Mark, 25, were seated next to one another in Row 22 E and F on the fateful flight as the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 took off from Dallas, Texas, heading to Little Rock National Airport in severe thunderstorms. The flight crew was unable to control the aircraft in the inclement weather and overran the end of Runway 4R. The plane traveled 411 feet beyond the runway and crashed through a chain link security fence and over a rock embankment to a flood plain, colliding with a structure supporting Runway 22L’s approach lighting system. The captain and 10 passengers were killed. The aircraft was destroyed in the ensuing fire. The first officer, the four flight attendants and 105 passengers were injured, including the Simmons brothers; 24 passengers miraculously were not injured. |
| SwissAir Flight 111 |
Crashed September 2, 1998, off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia En route to Geneva, Switzerland, SwissAir Flight 111 crashed 16 minutes after takeoff following the pilots reporting smoke in the cockpit. Mr. Clifford was on the Plaintiffs’ Committee. The lawsuits, which were consolidated for trial before a federal judge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also were against Delta Airlines, with whom SwissAir conducted a joint venture, and the Dupont Corporation, the manufacturer of metal mylar used in the aircraft’s insulation blankets. An interim report issued by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board which investigated the crash concluded that this material was the cause of the rapid spread of fire and that its history of problems made it an unacceptable risk. That finding prompted U.S. air safety officials to recommend that airlines inspect all MD-11 jetliners for electrical wiring problems. |
| TWA Flight 800 |
Crashed off the coast of New York July 17, 1996 This crash has been the subject of much controversy after it plunged about eight nautical miles off the southern coast of Long Island. All 230 persons aboard were killed. Robert Clifford, on behalf of the family member he represented, brought suit against Trans World Airlines, Boeing Corporation and Hydro-Aire, Inc., manufacturer of the fuel pump on board, as the parties responsible for the explosion in the plane’s center fuel tank. A bitterly fought battle ensued over whether the Death on the High Seas Act applied. Plaintiffs were successful in convincing the federal judge in New York in the consolidated lawsuit that this federal law – which would have barred recovery of non-pecuniary damages including claims for pre-death pain and suffering and the survivors’ grief, loss of society as well as punitive damages – did not apply. The probable cause of the crash was determined to be an explosion in the center wing fuel tank of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank. The NTSB found that the probable cause of the flammable mixture igniting was a short circuit that traveled through the plane’s electrical wiring. |
| Tarom Airlines Flight 371 |
Crashed in Bucharest, Romania, on March 31, 1995 Tarom Airlines Flight 371 crashed in Bucharest, Romania, while en route to Brussels, Belgium, killing all 60 people aboard. Therese Chung, a business consultant, was killed on the flight. The Romanian Transport Ministry found that the cause of the Airbus crash, and French and Belgian experts agreed, was that the pilot became affected by health problems shortly after takeoff causing the aircraft to go into a spin when the throttle fell idle. The co-pilot was able to switch on the autopilot, but this function refused to carry out the procedure because the necessary parameters were not met, according to the chief inspector of the Romanian Civil Aviation Authority. Richard Burke flew to France to take the depositions of airline employees, then settled the matter for $4.7 million. |
| American Eagle Flight 3379 |
Crashed in Morrisville, North Carolina, December 13, 1994 15 of the 20 passengers aboard were killed when American Eagle Flight 3379 crashed. The cockpit voice recorder captured the last discussion between the pilot and co-pilot in the Jetstream Super 31 turboprop where they spoke of a failure in one of the plane’s two engines and possibly aborting the flight from Greensboro to Raleigh. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that error of the 29-year-old pilot caused the plane to fall from an altitude of 1,400 feet. He didn’t follow proper procedures following engine failure and he did not take the necessary steps to land the plane safely on one engine, pointing perhaps to a lack of training. |
| American Eagle Flight 4184 |
Crashed in Roselawn, Indiana, on Halloween night, 1994 Clifford Law Offices represented 16 individuals who were killed and took 110 depositions. Robert Clifford and Kevin Durkin led the Plaintiff ’s Discovery Committee. The firm obtained a $110 million settlement on the eve of trial in federal court for 28 families. Besides an inattentive pilot in an ice storm, the cause of the crash was determined to be an inadequately sized de-icing boot on the wing. |
| USAir Flight 427 |
Crashed while maneuvering to land at Pittsburgh International Airport Pennsylvania, September 8, 1994 USAir Flight 427 crashed while maneuvering to land, killing all 132 aboard. Robert Clifford, along with the families whom he represented who lost loved ones aboard that ill-fated flight, waited five years for the NTSB to reach the conclusion that the probable cause of the aircraft spiraling into a ravine in suburban Pittsburgh was the result of the movement of a rudder which most likely deflected in a direction opposite to that commanded by the pilots. With that finding, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered three modifications to that aircraft: • the plane’s rudder control unit be redesigned to prevent a reversal of the rudder direction • crews have to be newly trained to handle aircraft upsets • a reduction in the amount of rudder a pilot can apply in high-risk situations. With that finding, the cases proceeded against USAir and Boeing, the manufacturer of the rudder. |
| American Airlines Flight 585 |
Crashed near Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 3, 1991 Representing five families who lost loved ones in that tragic crash, Clifford Law Offices reached settlements with American Airlines and Boeing Corporation, manufacturers of the plane. This case was the first to point out rudder problems with the 737 aircraft. |
| United Airlines Flight 232 |
Crashed in Sioux City, Iowa, on July 19, 1989 Mr. Clifford obtained a $28.2 million verdict for a 70-year-old woman severely injured when the plane cartwheeled down the runway upon landing and burst into flames. He also obtained a $15 million settlement on behalf of a Chicago area man who lost his wife and daughter in the crash. Mr. Clifford also negotiated with the defendants to contribute to a bereavement center that was set up at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago in the wife’s and child’s names. The American Bar Association Journal said of his efforts, “Robert Clifford was more successful than lawyers in other recent Chicago cases.” |
| Our Small Plane Accident Cases | |
| Waukegan Airport | January 31, 2000, started as any other day for popular WGN radio personality Bob Collins. He was on the air that morning broadcasting his talk show until he signed off at 10 am. He then called his wife to tell her he was going to fly his Zlin aircraft, taking off from Waukegan Airport. It was a clear day, but that did not help him when, upon his descent and unbeknownst to him, the air traffic controller had also cleared a student pilot for landing. She crashed into his plane and it careened into a nearby hospital. His wife often accompanied him on his flights but on that day she had decided not to. His last words to her were, “I love you.” Clifford Law Offices is representing his widow in the high-profile case. Following a trial in federal court, Bob Collins was found not to be at fault. |
| Kaiser, Missouri | On a Memorial Day weekend in 2001, two friends were returning from a getaway vacation near Lake of the Ozarks State Park. The Piper Comanche aircraft crashed just after take-off in Kaiser, Missouri. Clifford Law Offices represented the mother of a four-year-old daughter who was killed. It was determined that improper maintenance of the plane resulted in contamination of the fuel lines and a loss of power in the engine. |
| Grayslake, Illinois | On August 5, 1999, John Robinson, 56, was in a small plane with his 27-year-old daughter when the aircraft crashed in north suburban Grayslake, Illinois, killing both of them. The NTSB found that the probable cause of the crash was the pilot’s not maintaining altitude and clearances and his lack of experience in flying at night. |
| Chicago, Illinois | Clifford Law Offices represented a co-pilot of a corporate jet against the owners of a municipal airport outside Chicago as well as the corporation that owned the plane. Following a trial that resulted in a hung jury, Richard Burke tried the case again for another four weeks and received a $10.45 million verdict, the jury finding the airport 90 percent at fault for failing to provide a safe landing terrain. Involving that same crash, Mr. Burke earlier obtained a $13.5 million settlement on behalf of a passenger killed in that Guflstream IV plane on October 30, 1996. |
| Schaumberg, Illinois | In May, 2002, Mr. Burke obtained a $6.8 million verdict as a result of the crash of a Piper aircraft that ran out of gas in northwest suburban Schaumburg that was recognized as the Verdict of the Week in the National Law Journal. The jury deliberated just three hours following a two-and-a-half week trial before delivering a verdict against the pilot and Northwest Flyers on behalf of a Plainfield woman who suffered severe injuries as a passenger on the aircraft on August 18, 1996. |
| Our Helicopter Accident Cases | |
| Chicago | Our aviation attorneys obtained $4.1 million in 1998 on behalf of a photographer killed in a helicopter crash that plummeted into a northwestern suburban home in Chicago. |
| New York-New Jersey | Our aviation accident law firm obtained $10 million for the family of a Brazilian entrepreneur killed in 1994 aircraft crash as he and his wife took a short helicopter flight from New York to New Jersey. The helicopter crash was the result of the inexperienced pilot who was unable to navigate in inclement weather. |
| Goshen, Indiana | A student pilot sustained serious injuries when he was on a training flight with his instruction at Goshen Municipal Airport in Goshen, Indiana. The instructor and a rear-seat passenger, all represented by Clifford Law Offices, also sustained injury from the August 5, 2005 crash. |
| Alaska | Clifford Law Offices represented a 43-year-old mother of two teenagers killed in June, 1999, who was a passenger in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area of Alaska. The firm hired experts to help in the investigation and legal discovery of the accident on behalf of the Blanford family living in Florida. It was found that the pilot became disoriented and crashed the helicopter into a mountain. It resulted in a $900,000 settlement. |
| Arlington Heights, Illinois | Robert Clifford and Kevin Durkin represented the family of a photographer killed in a May 1, 1998 helicopter crash in Arlington Heights, a Chicago suburb. Clifford Law Offices obtained a $4.1 million settlement against the helicopter transport company that operated the flight from a regional airport. Clifford Law Offices also represents the couple whose suburban home was destroyed by the crash. |
| Frankfort, Illinois | On October 30, 1997, a helicopter crashed in suburban Frankfort, Illinois. Clifford Law Offices represented the pilot of the craft. The probable cause of the crash was determined to be a misjudgment of the clearance while maneuvering the approach to a runway on a dark night. |
