Prominent U.S. Aviation Litigation Firm Files Suit Against Bombardier, Inc.

Mt. Pleasant, SC - One of the largest aviation litigation firms in the U.S., Motley Rice LLC, announced that it has filed two major lawsuits against Canada-based Bombardier Inc., as well as U.S. companies General Electric, Honeywell, Northwest Airlines and KGS Electronics, and others, on behalf of the families of captain Jesse Rhodes and first officer Richard Peter Cesarz, victims of the crash of Pinnacle Airways Flight 708, a Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ-200), which took place on October 14, 2004 outside of Jefferson City, Mo. The flight, a regularly scheduled repositioning flight, had originated in Little Rock, Ark., and was enroute to Minneapolis-St. Paul for use in commercial flights. No other passengers were on board at the time of the incident.

Prior to the incident, the flight had already been postponed once on the morning of October 14th, due to maintenance issues. On-site technicians could not locate the problem, and subsequently two Pinnacle mechanics flew in from Memphis, Tennessee to identify and fix the aircraft. The mechanics verified a fault in the right air duct sensing loop. The loop was removed and replaced in the right engine.

At approximately 9:21 p.m., the plane took off. During flight, the crew took the aircraft to the manufacturer's authorized altitude ceiling of 41,000 feet. Flight at this altitude offers significantly better fuel economy. Once at 41,000 feet, the aircraft was unable to hold altitude. The crew immediately asked air traffic control for permission to descend. While waiting for permission, the plane experienced double engine failure. They repeatedly tried to re-start the engines using the manufacturer's instructions, but all attempts failed. The plane dropped at a rate of 2500 to 5000 feet per minute and was headed directly for a residential area. In the final seconds of their lives, the pilots steered the plane clear of homes sparing lives on the ground, but losing their own.

A post crash investigation revealed that the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) recovered from the scene recorded that the engine core rotors (known as N2) did not begin to rotate with the opening of pneumatic valves used for engine restarts. This phenomenon is known as "core-lock". The post crash investigation also revealed the GE CF-34-3B engines' oil pump malfunctioned and that other components of the engines suffered from extensive heat damage consistent with exposure to extreme high temperatures during operation, resulting in the rotor blades failing to rotate and suffering from the aforementioned core-lock, causing both engines to fail all restart efforts by the crew after numerous attempts to do so.

According to a March 2003 Boston Globe article regarding a similar incident involving a Bombardier aircraft, GE had been aware of the high-altitude, low oil pressure problem with the engine but hid the information from Bombardier.

"Our clients, Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Cesarz, were operating under approved guidelines at legal altitudes and did everything in their power to restart the engines," stated Motley Rice attorney and former U.S. Inspector General for the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., Mary Schiavo "However, this proved impossible because of core lock, oil pump malfunction, faulty re-start instructions and other problems with the aircraft. It is a horrible tragedy that they had to die because of these known engine problems. With this litigation, we intend to further the safety of our regional carriers, and safeguard pilots and crew to enable the provision of safer flights for their passengers."

Unfortunately, this crash is not an isolated incident for our country's regional carriers. Regional carriers, while operating under the names of the larger airlines, often employ foreign-built jets that may not receive the same level of scrutiny as a major carrier aircraft.

"Examining all the problems on this aircraft and these engines is very important not only to regional carriers, but also to operators of private jets. The engines and other parts and equipment on the CRJ are identical to the Challenger CL 600, a very popular corporate jet," said Marlon Kimpson, another of Motley Rice's aviation attorneys. "In recent years, several Challengers have been involved in crashes."

"We want to bring to light systemic difficulties so problems can be fixed and lives can be saved," added Motley Rice attorney J.B. Harris. "We hope the manufacturers of both the plane and engines will be forthcoming and responsive to the problems, so more fine pilots like Rhodes and Cesarz do not have to die trying to do the impossible; start an engine in corelock."

Both cases were filed in Circuit Court in Broward County, Florida and included the following defendants: Bombardier, Inc., Bombardier Aerospace Corporation, General Electric Company, Honeywell International, Inc., Parker Hannafin Corporation, Northwest Airlines, Inc., and KSG Electronics.

Motley Rice attorneys working on this case are Marlon Kimpson, J.B. Harris, and Mary Schiavo.

SOURCE: Motley Rice LLC