Associated Press
A federal judge has ordered settlement talks to begin in wrongful- death lawsuits filed by families of people who died in the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in January 2000.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who took over the case after U.S. District Judge Charles Legge retired in June, issued the ruling Friday in San Francisco. He assigned former judge Daniel Weinstein to mediate the talks.
The airline had requested mediation for lawsuits that have not yet been settled.
Twenty-two of the lawsuits filed on behalf of the 88 passengers and crew killed in the crash have been settled. Those include claims filed by relatives of the plane’s captain, Ted Thompson, and his first officer, Bill Tansky.
According to the airline’s Web site, it is not requesting a limit on damages. An international treaty caps damages at $130,000, but the airline said that could delay the resolution of the cases. It also said the company did not accept all the responsibility for the crash.
Jack Evans, a spokesman for the airline, said he didn’t know how much the airline would pay for the mediator’s services. A lawyer for the families could not be immediately reached Saturday.
Flight 261 crashed into the Pacific Ocean on Jan. 31, 2000. It was en route from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco and then Seattle.
The crash was likely caused by a piece of the tail-control mechanism breaking off in flight, making it impossible to pull the Boeing MD-80 jet out of a sudden dive, according to federal investigators.
All 88 people on board were killed.
The airline is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, which earlier this month issued recommendations for changes in the maintenance procedures for many passenger jets as a result of the crash.
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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