Families of 3 Jet Crash Victims Win $4 Million

The families of three fishing buddies who died in the Aeromexico jetliner disaster in Cerritos in 1986 have been awarded a combined $4 million by a Los Angeles federal court judge, but it may be some time before they see any money, according to lawyers in the case.

The monetary judgments, handed down individually late last week by U.S. District Judge Manuel Real, were the latest in about half a dozen awarded so far in the midair collision that claimed 82 lives.

An earlier jury ruling found the Federal Aviation Administration and William K. Kramer, the pilot of the small plane that collided with the jetliner, equally responsible for the crash. Aeromexico was found blameless.

As a result of that ruling, the U.S. government and Kramer’s estate are each liable for half of the damage awards. Attorneys for the claimants, however, do not expect Kramer’s $1.2-million estate to cover much of the expected multimillion-dollar damage claims.