Memorial service at the site of the Boeing 737-500 crash in Perm, September 16, 2008
Photo: Andrey Korshunov
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Plane Crash Victims Discover America
The U.S. firms Nolan Law Group and Ribbeck Law Chartered filed a petition against the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency yesterday on the behalf of Alexey Afanasyev, father of one of the victims of the crash of the Boeing 737-500 that crashed in Perm. That agency, which manages the retraining of Russian pilots to fly Boeings under an agreement with the Russian government, did not sufficiently supervise the facility where Russian pilots studied. If the case goes to court, the lawyers intend to seek $10 million for the Afanasyev family.
The law firms are claiming the FAA was negligent in the training of the Russian pilots. “This is a unique case that could set a precedent,” Thomas Ellis, director of litigation support for Nolan Group, told Kommersant. “We think the case has merit, otherwise we wouldn’t have taken it.” Under U.S. law, the FAA has six months to respond to the petition. If it does not do so, the firm will go to court. The case is possible because of a 1998 agreement between the U.S. and Russian governments on raising the level of air transportation safety that obliges the FAA to supervise U.S. facilities that train Russian pilots to fly Western planes. Without certification from such a facility, pilots cannot fly those planes.
The Aeroflot-Nord plane crashed on the morning of September 14 in Perm. All 82 passengers and six crewmembers on board were killed. Investigation of the crash continues. One of suspected causes of the crash is crew error. Several cases related to the tragedy have been filed in Russian courts. Russian lawyer Igor Turnov points out, however, that foreigners are prohibited from practicing law in Russia without special registration. He said several American law firms sent advertising material to relatives of crash victims.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 15, 2008
|
|
|
