Two Wrongful Death Lawsuits From Flight 3407 Crash

Chrissie Cole

Contributor

0 CommentsPrint ArticleSubscribe

Two wrongful death lawsuits were recently filed in federal court by the surviving family members of Ernie West and Darren Tolsma, who were among those killed last month when Continental Airlines Flight 3407 crashed in New York.

Flight 3407 from Newark, New Jersey, was coming in for a landing when it crashed within miles of Buffalo Niagara International Airport in New York sparking a fiery collision, killing all 49 onboard and one man in the home.

"The lawsuits seek damages for wrongful death, and the conscious pain, suffering and pre-crash terror experienced by Darren and Ernie," said Hugh M. Russ III, attorney for the two families. "We'll also be asking for punitive damages against the defendants, in hopes that we can prevent something like this from happening again."

Some of the factors stated in the lawsuit include pilot negligence and negligence in providing them the proper training. The suit also claims the crash caused both victims pain and suffering.

Three airlines and the manufacturer of the plane used for the Continental flight will be defendants.

The NTSB is still investigating the cause of the crash.