New Jersey Law JournalVol. CLVIII, No. 8, Index 665 Copyright 1999 by American Lawyer Media, ALM LLC November 22, 1999 HOBOKEN LAWYER SUES EGYPTAIR AND BOEING OVER OCEAN CRASHPadraic Cassidy A lawyer representing the widow of a Paterson resident killed in the Oct. 31 EgyptAir crash filed suit Thursday against the airline and the plane's manufacturer, seeking $25 million in damages from each. The passenger, Ghassan Koujan, 39, was one of 217 people killed on EgyptAir Flight 990. The airline purchased the 767 model 366 ER from Boeing Corp. in 1989. The suit was filed in federal court in Manhattan. In a letter to EgyptAir, attorney Gerald Baker is asking for an advance on the maximum $133,000 damages he says is owed to survivors under the Warsaw Convention and a subsequent agreement, the Intercarrier Agreement on Passenger Liability. Baker, a partner at Hoboken's Baker, Pedersen & Robbins, was the second attorney to file complaints on behalf of passengers who died on TWA Flight 800 in July 1996. He filed soon after the most recent crash, he says, to urge EgyptAir to assist Koujan's family, for whom he was the primary means of support. "These families need money to live on while the investigation is going on," says Baker. "They are going to have to pay $133,000 someday. Why don't they be humanitarian and statesmanlike and pay it?" A representative of the airline did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Koujan's widow, Samar Soudi Koujan, and her children, Seddik, Maram and Nour Al-huda, live in Syria, where Ghassan Koujan was headed to arrange for their emigration to the United States. Koujan lived in Paterson for 11 years and worked at a restaurant in Wayne. Samar Soudi Koujan is in Paterson awaiting word from the airline on compensation and results of the accident investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board is analyzing pieces of wreckage from the crash as well as technical and audio tape recordings. Reports have centered on the actions of relief co-pilot Gameel Batouty, who investigators have said might have purposely brought the plane down. Baker is covering that and other theories of liability. The complaint filed Thursday alleges that EgyptAir "was responsible for the hiring and training of the pilot and crew of flight 990," as well as for the proper screening of passengers and baggage to thwart any terrorist attacks. The complaint cites New Jersey's Wrongful Death Act, N.J.S.A. 2A: 31-1 et seq., and Survivor's Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:15-3. Under international treaties, airlines have an affirmative obligation to prove they undertook all necessary measures to prevent such a disaster. Aviation law also lifts liability limits if misconduct can be proven. |
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