Judge Rejects Punitive Damages in Alaska Airlines Crash

A federal judge ruled late Tuesday that an international treaty prevents victims of the Alaska Airlines crash off Ventura County from recovering punitive damages from the airline.

The decision was a major setback for loved ones of the 88 people who were aboard the MD-83 aircraft Jan. 31, 2000, when it plunged into the ocean off Point Mugu. But it was a major victory for the airline.

U.S. District Judge Charles Legge ruled that the Warsaw Convention does not allow air disaster victims to recover punitive damages--money meant to punish a company for malfeasance.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the disaster and has not said what caused the crash. The inquiry is focusing on mechanics’ decision not to replace a part that was wearing out in 1997 and is suspected of causing the tragedy.

The jackscrew assembly had been tested repeatedly by a maintenance crew in Oakland and found to be nearly worn out but was put back into service after a second crew tested it a few days later, according to airline records and federal officials.

No U.S. appeals court has allowed such a punitive damages claim. That means the victims’ relatives probably cannot pursue litigation seeking to establish that the airline bears responsibility for causing the crash.

Under the convention and other treaties, the victims’ families get $140,000 plus lost wages and such noneconomic damages as loss of consortium, companionship and a loved one. Punitive damages could have ended up in the billions of dollars.

The judge said he may allow the victims’ families to recover millions of dollars and other damages from injuries their loved ones suffered while the stricken plane was careening through the air.

The decision effectively means that determining what caused the air disaster may be left in the hands of the NTSB.

However, attorneys for the victims hope they can still pursue punitive damages and establish, in court, the cause of the crash in their suits against Boeing Co. and McDonnell-Douglas Corp., the jet’s manufacturers, which merged in 1997. The companies are accused of negligently designing and manufacturing the aircraft.

“It’s our intention to fully pursue this,” said attorney Frank Pitre of Burlingame, Calif.

Alaska Airlines, which declined to comment late Tuesday, has said it wants to settle the lawsuits.

“We would like to settle for 100% of the claims,” the carrier’s attorney, Mark Dombroff, has said.

As required under the Warsaw Convention, Alaska has already paid the $140,000 to most of the victims’ families, company spokesman Jack Evans has said.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys were hoping to have a forum in which to demonstrate that the carrier was negligent for allowing the plane to take off and perhaps was liable for much more, a process that might have taken years, New York attorney Francis Fleming has said.