Is $5000 enough?

[iammrhawkeyes]

www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-01-26-us-airways-river-crash_N.htm

Seems pretty cheap to me.

[lpcalihawk]

Lifetime free airfare on U.S. Airways would have been appropriate.....assuming anyone wants to fly their airline again.

[Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith)]

Me too. This is a situation that "emotional distress" is no bullshit. I'd stay the hell away from airplanes and probably have a lot of sleepless nights after that incident.

Pretty weak.

Legal minds - what would keep the passengers from suing the company for more money?

[TBELL]

How can an airline prevent a bird from flying into an engine? Put chicken wire over them? I don't think that would even work. I don't think this is in anyway the airlines fault. I'd say these people are lucky to be alive because of one of this airlines pilots.

That said, where do I sign up for the lawsuit? And no, I don't think it is enough! I hate flying the way it is, this wouldn't help matters any!

[socal]

The airline should countersue each greedy fuck for contributing unspecified weight to the plane, causing it to go down.

Their arguments could be that due to the specific density (fat-ass) of said passenger, they weighed down the plane so much that it couldn't rise above the birds fast enough.

.....and for those with skinny asses, they could sue because their asses weren't big enough to weigh the plane down --- preventing the plane from rising to the level of the birds.




---Sadly, I predicted this. One of the thoughts I had when I heard there were no major injuries is that there would be some ungreatful fuck that thinks they can get somebody to pay the same amount their family would have received- had they been killed.

[TBELL]

Jan 27, 2009 17:00:55 GMT -6 socal said:

The airline should countersue each greedy f**k for contributing unspecified weight to the plane, causing it to go down.

Their arguments could be that due to the specific density (fat-ass) of said passenger, they weighed down the plane so much that it couldn't rise above the birds fast enough.

.....and for those with skinny asses, they could sue because their asses weren't big enough to weigh the plane down --- preventing the plane from rising to the level of the birds.




---Sadly, I predicted this. One of the thoughts I had when I heard there were no major injuries is that there would be some ungreatful f**k that thinks they can get somebody to pay the same amount their family would have received- had they been killed.

I'm just in it to make an easy dollar. Everyone else does it these days, why can't I?

[101]

Bingo. Those that file a lawsuit are just looking for a fast buck. Sad that in today's world, that seems to be completely acceptable most all of the time. I swear, lots of people have no standards or morals these days.

Jan 27, 2009 17:00:55 GMT -6 socal said:

The airline should countersue each greedy f**k for contributing unspecified weight to the plane, causing it to go down.

Their arguments could be that due to the specific density (fat-ass) of said passenger, they weighed down the plane so much that it couldn't rise above the birds fast enough.

.....and for those with skinny asses, they could sue because their asses weren't big enough to weigh the plane down --- preventing the plane from rising to the level of the birds.




---Sadly, I predicted this. One of the thoughts I had when I heard there were no major injuries is that there would be some ungreatful f**k that thinks they can get somebody to pay the same amount their family would have received- had they been killed.

[NOTTHOR]

Jan 27, 2009 16:13:33 GMT -6 Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) said:

Me too. This is a situation that "emotional distress" is no bullshit. I'd stay the hell away from airplanes and probably have a lot of sleepless nights after that incident.

Pretty weak.

Legal minds - what would keep the passengers from suing the company for more money?

There might be some law limiting the airline's liability. If I were traveling for work with my laptop, ipod, and a few suits, 5 grand would barely make me whole for the damage to my tangible property. The article says the $5k is just some "hold you over" money, so my guess is they'll come out with better financial packages soon just to get that waiver in their back pocket.

In order to sue someone for emotional distress, you have to prove that your emotional distress is the result of a tort. The issue here is whether the airline was negligent. Sure, the airplane hit some birds and went down, but unless the FAA inspectors find something wrong with the plane such that a better/properly maintained plane wouldn't have crashed, these guys are pretty much SOL. Sure, some people will sue and might be able to extract strike settlements, but at the end of the day if there is no negligence, you can't recover because an act of God brought the plane down.

[iammrhawkeyes]

Jan 27, 2009 17:59:09 GMT -6 101 said:

Bingo. Those that file a lawsuit are just looking for a fast buck. Sad that in today's world, that seems to be completely acceptable most all of the time. I swear, lots of people have no standards or morals these days.

Jan 27, 2009 17:00:55 GMT -6 socal said:

The airline should countersue each greedy f**k for contributing unspecified weight to the plane, causing it to go down.

Their arguments could be that due to the specific density (fat-ass) of said passenger, they weighed down the plane so much that it couldn't rise above the birds fast enough.

.....and for those with skinny asses, they could sue because their asses weren't big enough to weigh the plane down --- preventing the plane from rising to the level of the birds.




---Sadly, I predicted this. One of the thoughts I had when I heard there were no major injuries is that there would be some ungreatful f**k that thinks they can get somebody to pay the same amount their family would have received- had they been killed.

I agree with both of you on the possible lawsuit issue and I love the countersuit idea. I'm just curious what people think should be the right inconvenience sum, if any. Many times, people get comps from other service providers for glitches that occur even if that glitch is beyond their control. So what does hurtling downwards towards The Hudson River doing 200mph(or whatever) fetch?

[Solar Stud]

Pathetic.


Afterall, Ron nearly killed me, Mohawk and Spank while driving back to his place after the Northwestern game....and we haven't sued...yet.

[thunderhawk]

Depends. Aside from recovery for actual property lost, which would be pretty easy to prove, you might have some real emotional stress problems on down the road which might require substantially more than 5K in compensation. For example, if you are required to fly frequently for your job and due to this incident become a basket case and lose your job, well, you'd probably have a pretty legit claim.

Me, I'd let 'em pay for my lost belongings and tell 'em to send the rest to that pilot.

[NotMyKid]

Jan 27, 2009 17:00:55 GMT -6 socal said:

One of the thoughts I had when I heard there were no major injuries is that there would be some ungreatful f**k that thinks they can get somebody to pay the same amount their family would have received- had they been killed.

Agree 100%