UPS hit with first wrongful death lawsuits from Louisville plane crash
The families of two of the victims killed in the Nov. 4 crash of UPS Flight 2976 near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport have filed the first wrongful death lawsuits against the Atlanta-based company for the incident.
The plane was full of jet fuel and bound for Honolulu as it failed to successfully take off that evening.
The left engine came off the wing and caught fire as it went above the plane and hit the ground, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board last month.
The three pilots on board and 11 people on the ground were killed; an additional 23 people were injured.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of the late Trinadette Chavez and Angela Anderson, who were in the industrial district that was engulfed in flames in the crash near the Louisville airport.
The age of the 34-year-old aircraft “suggests that this plane was old, tired, and well beyond its useful life … certainly triggering questions about profit over safety,” said aviation attorney Robert Clifford, representing the plaintiffs, in a statement.
UPS in a statement said it does not comment on pending litigation.
“We remain deeply saddened for those affected by Flight 2976. UPS is fully supporting the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the accident and working tirelessly with federal, state and local authorities on response efforts.”
A class-action suit was already filed on behalf of businesses and individuals impacted by the crash, which caused shelter-in-place orders and a fire roughly the size of a city block.
“This tragedy is an unacceptable event that indicates a catastrophic failure across numerous safety systems,” said Bradley Cosgrove, a partner at Clifford Law Offices representing plaintiffs in the wrongful death suits, in a statement.
The suits name as defendants UPS and its airline subsidiary, as well as General Electric, Boeing and VT San Antonio Aerospace, the manufacturers and maintenance providers of the MD-11 aircraft and engines involved in the crash.
VT San Antonio Aerospace provided about six weeks of maintenance on the plane nearly a month before the crash, the complaints allege. Boeing and VT San Antonio Aerospace did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a statement GE Aerospace said the company extends “our heartfelt sympathies to the families and loved ones of those impacted. Safety is our first priority, and we are supporting the NTSB’s investigation.”
An extensive environmental cleanup is ongoing in Louisville with oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The plane was loaded with 38,000 gallons of jet fuel when it crashed into an industrial business district.
One of the businesses directly hit, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, had about 226,000 gallons of used motor oil and 37,000 gallons of oil-water-antifreeze mix on-site at the time, the EPA has said.
U.S. Rep Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, said in a recent letter to the EPA reported by Spectrum News that crews have recovered around 880,000 gallons of oil-water mix from the area and surrounding waterways, roughly about 95%.
All MD-11 planes in operation were grounded days after the flight after a recommendation from Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer.
They remain grounded pending ongoing inspections required by the Federal Aviation Administration, according to a statement from Boeing.
For UPS, the 26 planes represented about 5% of its total fleet; for FedEx the affected aircraft represented 4%.
About the Author
As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
