Last 4 Plaintiffs OK Settlement in PSA Crash Liability Suit
A trial to determine liability for the 1987 Pacific Southwest Airlines crash that killed 43 people near Paso Robles ended abruptly Tuesday when the case’s remaining four plaintiffs agreed to drop negligence claims as part of an agreement that still allows them to sue for damages.
Five other plaintiffs had settled earlier for undisclosed amounts of money that one attorney said ranged up to “several million dollars.” So far, a total of between $20 million and $37 million in settlements has been paid out as a result of the tragedy.
As part of Tuesday’s out-of-court settlement, the defendants--PSA, USAir, the City of Los Angeles and Ogden Allied Security Co., which PSA paid to handle security at Los Angeles International Airport--admitted no responsibility for the Dec. 9, 1987, crash. The jetliner plunged to earth after a disgruntled former USAir ticket agent, David A. Burke, smuggled a gun aboard Flight 1771 and opened fire.
Arguments Scheduled
Opposing lawyers had been scheduled to begin closing arguments before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jack T. Ryburn in the three-week jury trial when the agreement was announced.
“The settlement eliminates the uncertainty (of a jury verdict),” said Ronald H. Wecht, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
In the trial, no one contested Burke’s role. According to the FBI and other federal investigators, Burke, 35, who had been accused of theft and fired from his job by Raymond Thomson, walked into Thomson’s office at the airport at 2 p.m. on the day of the crash and asked for his job back.
Thomson, 48, a station manager for USAir, the parent company that later acquired PSA, refused. Later that day, the two men separately left the office to catch Flight 1771 for San Francisco. Investigators concluded that once he was on board the British-built BAe-146 jet, Burke used the .44 magnum revolver he had smuggled onto the plane to shoot Thomson, the jet’s cockpit crew and himself.
In addition to Burke’s role, however, the jury was being asked to consider whether PSA and the other defendants were also liable for the crash. On that score, jurors seemed split after the settlement was announced.
“There was no way that anyone could have stopped Burke,” said juror Sergio Gutierrez, 24, of San Gabriel. “He was determined to get on that plane and shoot people.” Added juror William Palm of Los Angeles: “I thought the airlines did all they could.”
Airline’s Vulnerability
Other jurors said the airlines’ inability to account for all of Burke’s employee identification badges made them vulnerable to charges of negligence. “They didn’t even know how many badges were out there,” said Stephen Chaborski, 22, of Pico Rivera.
Burke’s estate was not a defendant in the trial since its estimated value of $200,000 could not come close to covering the damages sought by the 35 lawsuits filed by the victims’ families.
Most of the families who sued settled before the jury trial began earlier this month. Nine families decided to go to trial, but five of them settled before today. Settlement of the last four was reached late Monday, said attorney Joseph T. Cook.
Cook said that his clients, the family of PSA flight attendant Debra Vulysteke, 32, wanted a jury trial for damages.
Admit No Liability
Under the terms of the out-of-court settlement, the insurance carrier for PSA, USAir and Ogden Allied will pay out the money even though the three defendants have admitted no liability, said defense attorney John L. Papageorge.
The City of Los Angeles, which operates the airport, will pay no money as part of the settlement.
Each side in the case claimed victory after the jurors were dismissed.
Wecht said that the trial showed “how bad it (airport security) was.” He added that “the public needs to know how disasters happen so we can avoid them in the future.”
But airline attorney George Manfredi contended that Burke, not airport security, was the sole cause of the crash.
“There’s no system in the world that could prevent some insider from perpetrating acts of violence,” he said.
