The Nation - News from March 2, 1988

Former weather service forecaster William H. Haggard testified in Ft. Worth, Tex., that the crew of Delta Flight 191, which crashed Aug. 2, 1985, killing 137 people, could not see a dangerous storm cell but that air traffic controllers in an airport tower could spot it. Delta Air Lines began presenting evidence in its lawsuit against the government that weather forecasters and air traffic controllers, and not the airline, were responsible for the crash at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the crash was caused by downward winds in the storm and assigned fault to both sides. Delta has paid $66.3 million in claims from the crash. In its suit, Delta asks the government to bear past and future claims and to pay for the Lockheed Tristar that was destroyed.