Florida Man Sues US Airways Over “Terrifying” 2014 Crash

Jeff Edwards May 06, 2015

A Florida man is among the first to file suit over a US Airways flight that violently slammed into the runway shortly after takeoff in Philadelphia last year.

Claiming post-traumatic stress and lingering injuries resulting from a “terrifying” crash at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), a Florida man has filed suit against the airline in U.S. District Court. The Palm Beach Post reports that Thomas E. Francis became among the first to seek damages as a result of the crash and emergency evacuation of US Airways Flight 1702 last year.

Court filings describe a harrowing experience aboard the March 13, 2014 flight from PHL to Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL). A portion of the lawsuit read: “Mr. Francis and other passengers were violently jostled during this harrowing process and ordered by the cabin crew to evacuate using the emergency slides, as the cabin filled with smoke from an engine that had ingested debris form the runway.”

Francis was one of 154 aboard the flight when it crashed into the runway following a failed takeoff. Remarkably, the incident did not result in any loss of life, but the aircraft’s landing gear was destroyed when the plane slammed to the ground.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating the crash, but internal FAA documents cited in the court filings have started to paint a picture of a series of missteps by the flight crew that contributed to the accident. The suit asserts that pilots first entered incorrect takeoff information into the aircraft’s computer system and compounded the problem by ignoring automated warnings about the erroneous entries until the aircraft was already airborne.

US Airways has denied any wrongdoing in its response to an earlier lawsuit over the incident.

The lawsuit claims that key among the early findings of the investigation is an indication that the pilot of the flight should not have been flying because he was taking prescription medications including the sedative Midazolam and the narcotic pain reliever Fentanyl.

[Photo: NBC]