US Airways Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger and hisco-pilot, Jeff Skiles, may have protected the airline from lawsuitsthat usually follow plane crashes.
|Legal experts say that because of its happy outcome, Flight 1549has the potential to be among the least litigious airline crashesin recent memory.
Justin Green, attorney with the law firm Kreindler & Kreindler,and other lawyers note that Sullenberger's successful water landingchanged the case's legal landscape dramatically.
“The difference between this being a case where you have half theplane dead and the other with serious injuries and everyone suingover post-traumatic stress disorder is the way the pilotperformed,” Green said.
Still, there may be room for victims upset by the experience tofind grounds for a lawsuit, lawyers said, especially if furtherinvestigation reveals engine failure or that the bird strike mayhave been avoided.
Federal law prohibits lawyers from soliciting business from aircrash victims in the first 45 days after an accident. In themeantime, US Airways has taken steps to keep passengers happy,including cutting each a check for $5,000 to cover missingluggage.
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