Verdicts and Settlements Products Liability $2.4 Million Settlement for Injured US Airways Employee

$2.4 Million Settlement for U.S. Airways Employee Injured When Deicing Planes

Case Summary:

A U.S. Airways employee fell 30 feet to the ground and fractured his lumbar vertebrae when the support boom for the deicing equipment he was using broke due to inferior welding.

Philadelphia products liability attorney, Richard M. Jurewicz, Senior Partner at Galfand Berger, filed suit against four different companies that had all contracted with each other to design, build, and manufacture the deicing boom structures for the Philadelphia International Airport.

Although four companies worked together to create these boom structures, Mr. Jurewicz claimed that adequate and reliable quality control procedures for the fabrication of the booms were lacking.  Mr. Jurewicz further claimed both the designer and boom manufacturer ignored testing reports showing structural problems in the boom pieces and the companies used substandard techniques and materials to build the booms.  In addition, Mr. Jurewicz claimed that the service company hired to perform monthly maintenance checks on the boom structures, failed to do them correctly and failed to discover the bad welds even though airline employees were regularly using them to deice planes.

Since the booms were not retested again after the initial test reports revealed structural deficiencies, stress fractures and cracks began to develop and were not detected or repaired before the boom collapse.

When the U.S. Airways employee was finishing deicing part of a plane, the bottom section of the boom split open causing other sections of the boom and the cab the employee was in to all fall through the plane’s wing and onto the ground 30 feet below.

The employee suffered serious injuries to his low back.  Mr. Jurewicz claimed that the failure of the companies to properly review and test the designs, failure to perform monthly maintenance checks, and the companies’ use of substandard techniques and materials caused the boom structure to break and the U.S. Airways employee to suffer his serious injuries.

Outcome:

Mr. Jurewicz obtained a $2.4 Million Dollar settlement for the injured worker on the first day of trial.

For more information contact Richard M. Jurewicz at [email protected].