U.S. Man Sues Boeing, Others for Nigerian Plane Crash

Prouct Design and Development ^ | June 8, 2012 | Michael Tarm, AP

[Still Thinking]

A man whose wife died when a Nigerian commercial airliner crashed into a crowded neighborhood in that country's largest city filed a lawsuit in the United States on Thursday that blames the accident, at least in part, on U.S. companies that designed, manufactured and sold the ill-fated plane.

An American attorney filed the lawsuit in U.S. 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. The crash killed 153 people who were on the plane and an undetermined number of people on the ground.

Nigeria's Aviation Minister Stella Oduah said 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, theplane crashed into several buildings.

Without offering details, the suit claims the Pratt & Whitney "engines used a defective and unreasonably dangerous design."

[Still Thinking]

...which design must have been extremely clever in it's danger and defective nature, for both of the defectively designed engines to fail simultaneously.

Bad fuel, maybe?

[jimtorr]

Bad fuel, ingested a flock of birds, electrical failure, ran out of fuel,....

I was sorry to see the MD-80 family go. I really liked those aircraft.

[Gamecock]

No fuel?

[TXnMA]

Some common system (like fuel), but not both P&W engines.

Where did it last refuel? In Africa, that would be my first (and second) suspect...

[Still Thinking]

I miss DC-10’s (and DC’s in general).

[Army Air Corps]

My bet is on the fact that this was a Nigerian airline.

Wanna bet that a ton of new 419 scam e-mail will be inspired by this crash?

[Still Thinking]

Where did it last refuel? In Africa, that would be my first (and second) suspect...

That was kinda my thought too. That continent runs on graft, so maybe a little water in the fuel (who's gonna notice...), etc.

[Army Air Corps]

Dana Air is a Nigerian airline that has a whopping five destinations.

[Feckless]

I can see him maybe suing for selling a well made, highly technical piece of equipment to some Third World Craphole country where the donkey carts are probably too sophisticated for most of the population but if they didn't they'd get sued for that, too.

[Army Air Corps]

This was not just any ol’ African nation, but Nigeria - a country that has a whole internet scam named after it!

[barmag25]

I fly on the md-80 planes all the time. Delta has a ton of them still around.

[Feckless]

Anyone who willingly gets on a plane in a Third World Craphole is playing Russian Roulette.

I watched a twin engine prop job circling the airfield at Sharm El Sheik in '86 with one prop feathered trying to start the second engine. After about 30 mins it landed and the locals loaded up and flew away on one engine.

Hope they made it... Insha'Allah

[Figment]

Boeing built the plane they didn’t operate it and Nigeria Air didn’t operate it properly.Anyone who boards one of these third world carriers has a death wish

[Westbrook]

Why are they suing Boeing? MD80 is a McDonnel-Douglass aircraft.

Did Boeing buy McDonnel-Douglass?

[moovova]

” Dana Air is a Nigerian airline that has a whopping five destinations. “

Six...

[Gay State Conservative]

Having flown on Third World airlines on more than a few occasions I'll wager that Boeing (and whoever made the engines) are the *last* ones to blame.Abysmal maintenance and/or water in the jet fuel (placed there either intentionally or through breathtaking carelessness) are much more likely explanations,But then an American suing a Nigerian airline in a Nigerian court isn't my definition of “deep pockets”.

If I was on the jury my verdict would be "not responsible".

[MindBender26]

Both engines out after a flight, simultaneously?

Out of fuel.

[starlifter]

Years ago.

[Westbrook]

Wow. I didn’t know that.

[onedoug]

Flew Vietnam Airlines in 2000; An A-320 twice and an F-72 variant. Very nice. They seem to have a fairly good record.