Trade Center Insurers Sue Two Airlines

On the day before the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, insurers for some World Trade Center buildings sued American Airlines, United Airlines and others, alleging their negligence allowed the deadly hijackings.

The suit, which was filed by London’s QBE International Insurance and certain underwriters at Lloyd’s of London , seeks more than $300 million from each of the two airlines and various amounts from other defendants. The insurers want to recover money they paid out for property damage and other losses caused to World Trade Center buildings 1, 2, 4 and 5 and nearby structures.

The case is among a number of Sept. 11-related suits filed recently in Manhattan federal court to meet the three-year statute of limitations deadline. Among defendants in the case are the airlines’ parents AMR Corp. and UAL Corp.

Spokespersons for American and United would not comment on specifics in the suit.

Paul Butler, a Florida lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said he expected the lawsuit would be consolidated with a pending master case against airlines, airport security firms, the World Trade Center owners and others by people injured in the attacks, representatives of those who died and entities that had property damage.