HOUSTON -- The Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights and The Gibson Law Firm have filed federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding two recent crashes of Continental Airlines Inc. flights.
The requests -- which were submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) -- cover various safety and training records related to Continental Flight 1404, which crashed Dec. 20, 2008 in Denver, and Continental Connection Flight 3704 (operated by Colgan Air), which crashed in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence Center on Feb. 12.
"Our organization is committed to improving the health, safety, dignity and well-being of airline passengers," says Kate Hanni, the Executive Director of the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights. "With these FOIA requests, we hope to ensure that passenger rights advocates will have a place in airline safety discussions going forward. The flying public deserves to know what truly happened with these Continental flights."
"There have been two serious incidents involving Continental planes within 60 days," says Attorney Jason A. Gibson, of the Gibson Law Firm. "I believe a combination of passenger rights advocacy, civil litigation and government investigation will ultimately determine what happened to the respective flights, in addition to improving airline safety."
The Gibson Law Firm represents eight passengers in litigation recently filed in a Houston state district court related to the Dec. 20, 2008, crash of Continental Flight 1404 at Denver International Airport. The flight, bound for George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, crashed moments after an aborted takeoff, and led to the hospitalization of 38 passengers.
The lawsuit alleges that Houston-based Continental negligently failed to "exercise the highest degree of care in operating the aircraft" and "maintaining control of the aircraft" and seeks medical expenses and monitoring, loss of earnings, loss of personal property, and other damages. The case is "Melissa Craft, et al., v. Continental Airlines, Inc., et al.," in the District Court of Harris County, Texas, 129th Judicial District, Cause No. 2009-01917.
