Second Suit Filed over Brazil Plane Crash

By Thomas Hall

Published on November 10, 2006

All 154 people aboard the Brazilian airline's Boeing 737 were killed after a collision with an Embraer Legacy jet sent the carrier tumbling to earth. All seven aboard the Legacy were unhurt, and the plane landed safely after the incident.

The lawsuit, one of two filed since the crash, names ExcelAire Service Inc. and its New York pilots, along with Honeywell International Inc., as having responsibility in the disaster. The Chicago-based firm Ribbeck Law filed the suit on behalf of a family member of two of the victims.

Allegations made in the lawsuit claim the Legacy jet’s transponder, made by Honeywell and designed to alert air traffic controllers and other aircraft to a plane’s location, did not function properly, causing the collision. Honeywell says it is not aware of any evidence that the transponder was malfunctioning or that the company was responsible for the crash.

The suit also claims that the pilots for ExcelAire acted carelessly and negligently. A separate lawsuit alleges the pilots were flying at the wrong altitude. The pilots have denied wrongdoing in the incident.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Brazilian authorities are still conducting their investigations, and the planes’ flight recorders are currently under analysis.

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