Southwest Airlines makes headway in settling lawsuits

Laura Sturza

AIRPORT DISTRICT -- The most recent agreement between Southwest

Airlines and plaintiffs in the crash of one of its 737 jets at the

Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport in March 2000, was reached last Friday,

officials said.

In an effort to keep legal costs to a minimum, officials at Southwest

admitted late last year to pilot negligence. This admission has helped

move several cases to settlement, which are confidential, Southwest

Attorney Christopher Young said.

Southwest Flight 1455, from Las Vegas to Burbank, skidded off the

runway and crashed through a fence, stopping 39 feet from a gas station.

Approximately two dozen individual lawsuits were subsequently filled,

some of which include more than one allegedly injured plaintiff.

Some plaintiffs filed suits claiming only a few minor physical

injuries, and some are claiming post traumatic stress disorder, Young

said. Some cases have been pending for several months, and others have

been pending for as long as a year.

The trial date is set for Jan. 29, but Southwest attorneys might try

to postpone the trial date.

“We are in the process of suggesting to the plaintiffs’ attorneys that

the cases go to mediation before a neutral third party,” Young said.

With officials at Southwest Airlines agreeing not to contest

negligence, the cases focus on whether the plaintiffs were physically or

emotionally harmed. If found harmed, the extent of the injury must be

determined. In addition, it must be determined how the recipients of the

injuries should be compensated, Young said.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs have cited other allegations in the

cases. These include claims about how and when drug tests were

administered to the pilots and about Southwest Airlines putting pressure

on pilots to meet tight deadlines.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been conducting an

ongoing investigation into the accident, and has not yet substantiated

the claims.

An interim report released by the board in July indicated that drug

testing had been performed according to federal regulations.

Pilots Howard Peterson and Jeffrey Erwin were fired from Southwest

Airlines in August 2000.

Erwin was reinstated in January, and he is flying for Southwest.

Peterson, though he was not scheduled to retire, was given the option to

retire. He accepted retirement, said Arthur Willner, the pilots’

attorney.