Wrongful Death Plane Crash Lawsuit Filed Over Buffalo Accident

The first wrongful death lawsuit has already been filed as a result of the February 12th Buffalo airplane crash involving a Continental commuter plane, which killed 50 people.

Jonah Mink filed the lawsuit late last week in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York on behalf of himself and his brother, over the death of their mother, Susan Wehle of Amherst, New York.

The airplane crash lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Continental Airlines Inc., Bombardier Aerospace Corp., which manufactured the aircraft, Colgan Air Inc., which operated the flight, and Pinnacle Airlines Corp., which is the parent company of Colgan Air Inc.

On February 12, 2009, around 10:20 p.m., Continental Connection Flight 3407 crashed into a house near Buffalo, killing all 49 people on board. In addition, one man on the ground was killed inside his home when the plane crashed into it.

The airplane accident was the first fatal plane accident involving a commercial aircraft in the United States in over two years, despite several recent crashes.

On December 20, 2008, a Continental plane crashed during takeoff in Colorado, but there were no fatalities among the 110 passengers and 4 crew members on board. On January 15, 2009, a U.S. Airways plane made a miracle crash landing on the Hudson River in New York, delivering all 155 passengers with only minimal personal injuries reported.

According to the allegations raised in the Buffalo plane crash lawsuit, control of the airplane was lost as a result of the negligence of the pilot, the airline and the manufacturer of the plane.

Although the investigation into the crash is ongoing, it has been alleged that the propeller plane was not suited to fly in the icy conditions on the night of the accident. Although the pneumatic boots on the edge of the wings would have expanded to shake the ice off, the boots were incapable of clearing all the ice.

In addition, questions have been raised about the pilot’s decision to continue flying the plane on autopilot, despite the ice buildup on the wings, and his subsequent decision to deploy the flaps as the plane prepared to land.

The Minks claim that airfoil icing, an inadequate and defective de-icing system, and the negligence demonstrated by the flight crew as well as the aircraft maintenance authorities, are jointly responsible for their mother’s death.