Clifford Law Offices has Filed Five Lawsuits on Behalf of the Families of Victims of Continental Connection Flight 3407

Clifford Law Offices, a nationally recognized aviation firm in Chicago, has filed five lawsuits in the federal court in the Western District of New York. The complaints allege negligence on a number of counts on the part of the airlines, the aircraft manufacturer and other corporate entities for failing to take the necessary steps to protect its passengers in the event of the loss of speed on landing with a wing contaminated with ice and snow.  Advanced warning systems are available through easily installed computer programs on an aircraft’s airspeed alerts but were not on this Bombardier Q400 and are recommended but not required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The complaints also allege negligence on the part of the defendants for failing to install an auto-throttle that also is available, like cruise control in a car, that automatically keeps the airspeed of the plane where it needs to be.  It also alleges negligence on the part of the owners and operators of the aircraft for the crew’s lack of training.

Clifford Law Offices has obtained summaries of correspondence between the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that clearly indicate that the FAA acknowledged years ago that the installation of low airspeed alerters should be considered for commercial aircraft which would have included the type of aircraft involved in the Feb. 12 crash, a Bombardier Dash 8-Q400.

The NTSB, in this correspondence and in its initial recommendations, referred to 18 incidents stemming back to 1982 where low airspeed alerter systems could have prevented accidents.  Subsequent reminders of this problem were sent by the NTSB to the FAA in 2005, 2006 and 2007.  The FAA assembled an internal team of experts to review this important safety issue, but no known action has taken place on this safety measure to date.  Additionally, the airlines and aircraft manufacturers who are fully aware of this significant safety issue did not take the necessary measures to make this safety feature available to the flight crew of Flight 3407.

Robert Clifford, senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, wrote letters on behalf of Robert and Denise Perry of Loveland, Ohio, parents of Johnathan Perry who died in the crash, to the NTSB and the FAA asking these governmental agencies, not only to find the cause of the crash, but to continue pushing for requirements that planes like the Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 to be required to have low airspeed alerter systems to give the pilots more warning time before the plane goes into a stall, which some experts have said may have occurred in the Feb. 12 crash.  Please click here to view copies of the letters.

The U.S. Senate Aviation Subcommittee is meeting June 10 and 17 in regards to concerns raised in those letters.