U.S. JUDGE REFUSES TO DISMISS 9/11 LITIGATION AGAINST AIRLINES

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09269605.htm

No story yet. Just the headline so far.

Don

[NNN0LHI]

1. AP story and link

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=716&e=2&u=/ap/20030909/ap_on_re_us/attacks_lawsuits

NEW YORK - Lawsuits blaming airlines, the Port Authority and the Boeing Co. for injuries and deaths in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks can proceed, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

The defendants had argued that the suits should be dismissed because they had no duty to anticipate and guard against deliberate and suicidal aircraft crashes and because any alleged negligence on their part was not the cause of the deaths and injuries.

In his 49-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center property, "has not shown that it will prove its defense of governmental immunity as to negligence allegations made by WTC occupants."

The judge also said the evidence he had seen does not support Boeing's argument that the invasion and takeover of the cockpit by the terrorists frees it from liability.

more

[underpants]

2. Oooh I smell another round of "help" from DC

How much is the suit for? Oh really that is just what we thought you might need (under their breath) settle and keep the rest.

[ScotTissue]

3. Ridiculous

What the relative of the victims went thru (what we all went thru) is horrible. But there have been private charity compensations and insurance compensations and government tax dollars compensations. There are lawsuits against every possible person involved, and its getting damn near ridiculous.

[Desperadoe]

4. damn near ridiculous

Ridiculous???...........Bullshit it is!! Who did you lose that day??

These people have every right to expect a full and thorough investigation of the facts surrounding the entire episode and so far our gooberment has done nothing but stonewall any form of investigation.

The more this is investigated the closer to the truth and the unearthing of the coverup we are going to get. The only reason these people did not take the government settlement was to keep the options open.

No amount of money is ever enough to compensate a murder victim's family.

[ScotTissue]

5. MHO

In my opinion:

"No amount of money is ever enough to compensate a murder victim's family."

False.

I also don't believe law suits against every party amounts to much of an "investigation."

[stickdog]

6. Really? Ever heard of 'discovery'?

Because that's the closest thing to an investigation these poor folks are going to get with Dubya's White House doing everything possible to suppress every avenue of 9/11 investigation.

[Mandate My Ass]

9. ah yes, discovery

But how long until the Bush admin. decides to classify any damning evidence for "national security" reasons?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. Yep- and I've got sad news for those who do not want the families to sue:

We have major property damage and loss of life due to gross negligence on the part of:

1. The airlines (their planes were flown into the buildings)
2. The FAA (It was their policy to cooperate with hijackers, the controllers failed to ID hi-jack immediately and notify NORAD)
3. The Federal Government (Where TF was NORAD?, witholding info. to airlines on possible hi-jackings and other intell.)
4. Boeing (it was their product used as WMD)
5. There is even some liability for the oil companies which sold and manufactured the flammable fuel which caused the towers to collapse.

Don't like the sounds of this? Too bad.
This is America, and we have courts and justice may be served. The families should get their day in court, and FUCK the compensation fund.
Fuck Bush.
This is his fuck up.

[demdave]

13. Liabilities for the oil companies....proof that this mentallity never stop

They sold the airlines fuel. Get over it. Next you will try to sue the people who jumped from the towers for property damage when they hit the ground.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

22. You are obviously very ignorant on matters of product safety

But I can assure you as an architect that I am all too aware of matters of liability and public safety.

And unfortunately those people who jumped had no choice and even more tragically killed others on the ground when they jumped. Why don't you just go out and say it: "It's not Bush's fault"? You obviously feel he has 0 percent accountibility for failure to protect 3000 Americans that day.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. As I understand it, the people bring the suits are trying to force the...

...airlines and/or the government to release what really happened on 9/11. They are not satisfied with the official story, and they are not willing to take the offered payment because they will have to sign a form promising never to sue in the future.

Additionally, it is my opinion that they are not doing this for the money. They are already in good shape financially from pension plan and insurance policy pay-outs.

There are also suits involving the passengers of Flight 93, the plane that plowed into the Pennsylvania countryside. Too many questions...chief among them is the eight mile debris trail leading to the impact crater, to include an engine 2000 yards away. Too many witnesses that claim to have seen a small unmarked jet flying overhead. Too many witnesses that claim to have seen Flight 93 flying low overhead with fire streaming from the plane. The government has yet to release the actual in-flight audiotape of the transcripts that have only been read to the next-of-kin. The government claims the actual audiotapes are evidence to be used in the event of a trial. Who is the government planning on prosecuting that was on that plane?

One more comment...if you lose a loved one, no amount of money will compensate you for that loss. They are gone forever. Have you ever had a relative murdered?

[Occulus]

12. So you're willing to put a dollar figure

on human life.

I don't think I need to respond to that.

[demdave]

14. Yes there is a monetary compensation for loss of life.

It is arbitrarily agreed to, granted, but it exists. It has to exist or their would be no such thing as insurance payouts.

[0007]

21. Indeed?

Well, AW I'm sure you'll figure it out in time, but then again I doubt it A**W***

[pfitz59]

7. Reinforced cockpit doors......

Airline lobbyists fought improved security for years! (AKA: Sen. Daschle's trophy wife). Airline industry and its Congressional puppets must share partial blame for putting greed over common sense security measures. Let the lawsuits continue......

[moondust]

19. Should have started back in the 70's.

The first time a terrorist made his way into the cockpit of an airliner the alarm bells should have started ringing in a lot of heads. "What if...?" they should have shrieked. Then they had years and years to follow the lead of El Al but didn't.

The airlines have it tough. High overhead, huge safety concerns always, and low profit margins. But it's no excuse for failing to do the right thing. Probably wouldn't have cost that much to build the security doors into every plane when manufactured.

[villageidiot]

8. This is obscene

Blame those that were following established protocol? Sue them??!! Why don't they sue the NY City Firefighters and Police? Why not sue New York City?? Let's sue the company that makes the Bags of Peanuts on the Planes. "If the passengers had been given more than the customary ONE BAG, they could have used these to fight off the terrorists". Let's sue the company that made the Box Cutters. Let's sue EVERYONE except those that let this fucking horrible day take place. Oh I forgot, you can't sue the Executive Branch of government.

:silly:

[NNN0LHI]

15. I see where you got your screen name

Clinton was part of the Executive Branch of government, and a lawsuit against him was allowed to go forth while he was a sitting President. And he was a real President who was actually elected and everything. Twice. The precedent has been set. Let these people get Chimpy McCokespoon on the stand and see what he knew about 9/11. Now won't that be fun?

Don

[villageidiot]

18. A Civil Lawsuit?

Thanks for the info on Clinton. It's hard to keep up with all these current events. Who's the President now? Is Clinton still President?

The only precedent set was regarding specifics in relation to the executive and judicial branches of federal government. Try bringing a Civil Lawsuit against Captain Segway and his merry band of thugs and see how far you get. Or, check with the GAO. They did a bang-up job of getting their lawsuit through.

I'll stand by previous statement. There is NO precedent established that would allow a Civil Lawsuit of this nature to proceed against Captain Segway. Disagree? Then go for it.

[proud patriot]

16. To all those who are against this litigation

The defendents (airlines etc.) started lobbying congress
for protection from these suits, not on Sept 13th or 14th
but on sept. 11th while bodies were burning . While Americans
burned these corperate assholes were playing CYA.

The Negligent got what they wanted , a bribe to the victims
with an agreement not to sue .

We who have seeked answers have been stonewalled
since the moment of the occurrence . The families
who did not take the blood money bribe from the gov.
did not sign the statement that the families who did
took the money signed which stated they would not sue.

They want Answers , Justice and could care less about money .
The American people deserve answers , and these families
standing strong in the face of a truly greedy evil
opposition are HEROS in my book .

It's the Airlines that put a price on our lives , and we
were just too expensive to protect ...

[Nashyra]

17. You speak as if the airlines did not lose anyone

The airlines of which you speak are the employees that lost many of their own on 9-11. I work for American Airlines and the ones that should be held responsible is the asinine F*&^%$# administration that had a warning on Aug 6th and did not pass it on to our industry. Also the "individual" who was the CEO who hired the lobbyist to fight against reinforced cockpit doors when the Pilots and Flight Attendant Unions asked that they be installed, I say take back the personal wealth and gain these CEO's made by letting this happen. To sue the industry or the company and make them pay out major awards does nothing to those responsible but only hurts the employees and retirees. I hope these suits are used for discovery and the appropriate people be held personally responsible, like who was responsible for the trades and profit of the stock market on shares of United and American in the days before the attacks. There have been very few accolades and very little heartfelt sentiment for our crews, they did what they were taught to do and told to do by the federal gov't, one American Airline flight attendant provided information to people on the ground right up until the moment of impact but where do you hear stories about her on the news. How much was her life worth, apparently not as much as the person killed in the trade center, yeah go ahead and sue the airlines then the families that they left behind will be left out in the cold because United and American will be bankrupt.

[proud patriot]

20. I'm sorry for all loss of life

It is the bean counters of the industries as well as the
bush admin. who are neglegent.

We must get to the truth somehow . Right now this
appears to be one of the only ways to do that .

If the Airlines has a grievance with the way the bush
admin handled intelligence before the attacks they need
to voice that . I really wish they would .