LEXINGTON, Ky. --
Comair has settled all but three liability lawsuits filed over a 2006 plane crash in Kentucky that killed 49 people, and the airline was pushing to resolve the others to avoid a federal trial next week.
Comair spokeswoman Kate Marx declined to release details of the settlements, including compensation, citing confidentiality agreements with families.
Law firms representing surviving family members of crash victims George Brunacini and Bryan Keith Woodward confirmed their cases were the two in Kentucky that still had not been settled as of Friday afternoon.
The trial was originally expected to focus on three example cases of the dozens filed, with hopes a jury verdict would spur the remaining parties to settle. However, Marx said one of the remaining cases was filed in Florida and wouldn't have gone to trial, leaving just the two lawsuits for U.S. District Judge Karl Forester to sort out in Lexington if they aren't settled first.
The lawsuits contend Comair was negligent because its pilots steered the plane in the pre-dawn darkness to the wrong runway, one that was too short for a proper takeoff. The jet hit trees and a perimeter fence before crashing in a farm next to Lexington's Blue Grass Airport.
"We have dedicated ourselves to reaching resolutions with the families, and our commitment to fair settlements still stands," Marx said Thursday.
A total of 36 lawsuits were filed on behalf of all but two of the 47 passengers who died. Families of the two crew members killed and the one survivor, co-pilot James Polehinke, did not sue Comair, but did sue the federal government. Polehinke was sued by some of the victims' families, but it was unclear whether he was still named in any of the remaining lawsuits.
On Wednesday, attorney Peter Perlman said a wide gap in negotiations remained between the Kentucky-based airline and his clients, family members of Brunacini, a former Lexington horse breeder. Perlman said that case wasn't scheduled for trial, but the list of example cases seemed to change by the hour.
"I know other discussions are possible," Perlman said. "Is it possible that all of them would be settled? I don't know."
Another of his clients did settle.
Attorney Louise Roselle, who helped resolve two cases, said some families may want to go to trial to ensure the facts get out. Others, such as her clients, are determined to keep their cases out of court.
"For our clients, coming down to Lexington and sitting in a courtroom for two or three weeks and hearing all this again was not going to be a pleasant experience," Roselle said.
Many families are suing Comair for compensatory and punitive damages and compensation for pain and suffering, saying their loved ones survived the initial impact. Families have claimed compensatory damages as high as $15 million.
Some of the lawsuits also targeted the Federal Aviation Administration that runs the air traffic control tower, which Comair contends was partly to blame.
Comair has also sued the FAA, seeking to force the government to share in the compensation to victims. The two sides were talking about a settlement, Marx said.
