3/15/2011 3:27:00 AM
NEWS BRIEFS
Judge Dismisses Suit Against Alcoa Fastening Systems and Other Suppliers
A federal judge in the 9th Circuit dismissed claims from a wrongful death suit filed by the families of three Navy crewmen killed in a helicopter crash off the coast of California’s Catalina Island on Jan. 26, 2007, Courthouse News Service reports. The judge ruled that the crash falls under a federal law governing deaths on the high seas.
That ruling was upheld by federal appeals panel, which found that the federal Death on the High Seas Act preempted the action because the accident occurred more than 3 nautical miles from the U.S. shore, according to Courthouse News Service reports.
The crewmen reportedly were killed after their Sikorsky MH-60S Knighthawk crashed in the Pacific Ocean about 9.5 nautical miles off the island coast during a training exercise.
Families of the crewmen sued Alcoa Global Fasteners, Pacific Scientific, HiShear, Sikorsky Aircraft, Sikorsky Support Services, Parker-Hannifin and General Electric for wrongful death, product liability, negligence, and breach of warranty.
The lawsuit alleged that the “defendants were aware of several defects in the component parts of the helicopter, including the engines, gear boxes, tail rotor drive, tail boom and tail fin structure and the inertia reel and restraint system,” the Associated Press reported in 2007.
The families reportedly filed the lawsuit after the U.S. Navy refused the families’ request to perform their own investigation.
“The Navy said they were unable to determine the cause of the accident, and unfortunately, none of the defendants will talk to us or provide information,” stated lead attorney Mike Danko. “So the lawsuit is a vehicle to allow us to investigate the accident. It is required because the Navy will not allow us to look at the wreckage.” ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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