Three Guyanese, who were passengers on the Caribbean Airlines flight that crash landed and split in two at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri (CJIA) last year, are suing the airline for damages for their injuries, medical expenses and loss of earnings.
Nandine Persaud and husband and wife Rajendra Persaud and Prampatie Persaud have filed suits in courts in New York and in Florida, in the United States, alleging that the airline’s actions amounted to negligence and wilful misconduct. Other passengers were also injured in the July 30, 2011, crash landing—one of them, Noel Elliot later had his leg amputated.
In the first case, Courthouse News Service reported that Nandine Persaud filed the suit in the Queens County Supreme Court as she was a passenger on BW523, which travelled from New York City to Georgetown, Guyana, via Trinidad.
Persaud, the report said, stated that she suffered mental anguish, fear of impending death, and severe and disabling injuries.
She is seeking damages for her injuries, pain and suffering, medical expenses, and loss of earnings and earning capacity.
Rajendra and Prampatie Persaud, meanwhile, filed their suit in the US District Court in the Southern District of Florida on June 18. The case is set to be heard before Judge William J. Zloch and Magistrate Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum.
According to court documents, filed by lawyer Curtis Miner and others for the Persauds and seen by this newspaper, the couple was sitting in business class at the time of the accident, just in front of the place where the plane cracked open. They said they suffered bodily injuries as a result of the crash, including pain and suffering, mental anguish, the cost of medical treatment and also lost income.
They contend that at all times Caribbean Airlines was under a duty to operate and control the aircraft, on the ground and in the air, with the highest degree of care and to exercise the highest degree of care to prevent injury of any kind.
They accused the airline of failing to exercise reasonable care in the safety of its passengers; falling to ensure that the flight crew used reasonably prudent and acceptable piloting techniques and skills in the operation of the flight; failing to properly train and monitor the flight crew; failing to properly navigate and operate the aircraft in a safe and competent manner given the prevailing weather, visibility and runway conditions; failing to safely land the aircraft and overshooting the runway at the Cheddi Jagan airport; failing to deploy the flaps and or/slats on the aircraft in order to slow and stabilise it during the approach and landing sequence; failing to provide guidance and instructions to the passengers on the evacuation of the aircraft or to provide proper assistance in the evacuation of the aircraft; and failing to warn passengers to brace themselves or prepare for an impact as a result of the failed landing.
The court documents also stated that the airline’s conduct constituted “willful misconduct” under the Warsaw Convention, because its flight crew landed the aircraft without deploying the flaps and/or slats of the aircraft, which is a basic safety measure in landing.
In this case, Caribbean Airlines has been given 21 one days after service to file a response to the couple’s claims.
While a final report on the crash has not been released as yet, preliminary investigations last year pointed to pilot error as the main contributing factor with information from the flight recorders as well as marks on the runway confirming that the plane touched down close to halfway along the length of the runway, a source close to the probe has revealed.
The preliminary investigations have also indicated that air traffic control at CJIA is more than likely in the clear and poor visibility was also ruled out.
