Nigeria plane crash: Lawsuit filed against US companies

Chicago:  A man whose wife died in the Nigerian airliner crash that killed 153 people filed a lawsuit in the US that blames the accident, at least in part, on US companies that designed, manufactured and sold the ill-fated plane. An American attorney yesterday filed the lawsuit in US District Court in Chicago on behalf of David Chukwunonso Allison, whose wife, Joy Chiedozie Allison, was on the Dana Air MD-83 that went down in the African nation Sunday afternoon. [caption id=“attachment_336176” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“AP”]  [/caption] Among those named in the 56-page lawsuit are Chicago-based Boeing Co, which bought the McDonnell-Douglas manufacturer of the plane, and Connecticut-based engine-maker Pratt & Whitney. Gary Robb, a Kansas City, Missouri-based aviation attorney who filed the lawsuit for David Allison, said reports of engine failure as the plane approached Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, point to the companies’ culpability. Nigeria’s Aviation Minister Stella Oduah said on Wednesday that the flight’s captain radioed Lagos as the aircraft approached and declared an emergency, saying both of the MD-83’s engines had failed. Minutes later, the plane crashed into several buildings. “That is always incredibly significant information,” Robb said. “Engines do not fail unless something goes dramatically wrong.” Without offering details, the suit claims the Pratt & Whitney “engines used a defective and unreasonably dangerous design.” AP