Probe Results Could Bring More Suits Over Jet Crash

Investigators’ findings could lead to more lawsuits against American Airlines over the crash of one of its planes near Cali, Colombia, last month that killed 163 people, lawyers said.

Initial test results showing alcohol in the remains of the captain of the plane were adding fuel to the growing number of lawsuits against the airline, they said, although it was not clear whether the source of the alcohol was liquor or chemical processes that could have occurred after death.

Personal injury lawyers said the findings may help them prove “willful misconduct” on the part of the airline.

“I think that’s excellent for our cases,” said William Huggett, a Miami lawyer who has filed two suits in the circuit court of Dade County.

Since Huggett filed his cases shortly after the crash, a number of other suits have been filed, including one in federal court in Miami on Friday and two in New York federal court Wednesday. Aviation lawyers told Reuters that they expect that families of most of those killed will sue.

American Airlines, a subsidiary of AMR Corp., said the Federal Aviation Administration had told it that alcohol was found in Capt. Nicholas Tafuri’s remains during forensic tests conducted by Colombian officials investigating the Dec. 20 crash of Flight 965. Only four people survived the crash.

But the airline said in a statement that until further tests were conducted, it could not be determined whether the alcohol was there because the captain had been drinking or whether it was from natural chemical processes after death.

The crash was Colombia’s worst and the deadliest involving a U.S. carrier since 270 people died in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.