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Air carrier was reckless, suit charges in Bahamas-bound sea plane crash

Friday, January 13, 2006

CHICAGO, USA: Representing three of the victims in the crash of a seaplane off the coast of Miami on December 19, 2005, Nolan Law Group filed complaints on Thursday in federal court for the Southern District of Florida.

The lawsuit charges that the victims perished because the airline, Chalk’s Ocean Airways, acted or failed to act “recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result.”

The victims represented are Niesha Tamalia Fox, Genevieve Agnes Ellis and Salome Gertrude Rolle. They were among the 18 passengers and two pilots who perished in the crash.

Attorney Donald J. Nolan stated that, because this was an international flight from the United States to the Bahamas, the lawsuit against the airline is governed by international treaty.

“There are specific treaty provisions prescribing the type of lawsuit that can be brought in this case,” Mr. Nolan explained. The lawsuit cites the Montreal Convention of 1999 and the Hague Protocol of 1955.

Litigating international airline disasters is a niche that keeps Nolan Law Group active, Mr. Nolan added, noting that his firm is currently involved in litigating accidents that occurred in Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and elsewhere in North America.

The lawsuit filed Thursday also includes a product liability count against the owner of the doomed aircraft, Seaplane Adventures, LLC, and a negligence count against the owner and Frakes Aviation, Inc., the Texas company that installed new engines and made other extensive modifications to the aircraft.

According to the complaints, Frakes Aviation negligently breached its duty of care “in modifying the aircraft in a manner that created excessive stress on the structural components of the wings, improperly performing maintenance and repair work and/or instructing the owners or operators of the aircraft in the inspection and maintenance of the wing structures following modification of the aircraft.”

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