UPDATE - Computer Companies Blamed in 1995 Crash

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Computer Companies Blamed in Crash

Story Filed: Wednesday, June 14, 2000 10:00 AM EDT

MIAMI (AP) -- A software company and the maker of a flight computer have been found partly responsible for the 1995 crash of an American Airlines jetliner in Colombia that killed 159 people.

A hearing on how much the two companies will have to pay has been set for June 20.

A federal jury on Tuesday found onboard computer maker Honeywell Air Transport Systems of Phoenix and aviation software maker Jeppesen Sanderson of Englewood, Colo., partially to blame for the crash, saying they had made defective equipment aboard American Airlines Flight 995.

The flight from Miami was carrying mostly Colombians heading home for Christmas on Dec. 20, 1995. The two pilots entered an incorrect code into the flight computer, sending the Boeing 757 into a mountainside near Cali. Four people survived; their cases are still pending.

American alleged in a lawsuit that products made by Honeywell and Jeppersen caused the crash. The jury found Jeppesen was 17 percent at fault and Honeywell was 8 percent to blame. It held American to be 75 percent responsible.

The nine-week trial was an attempt by American to force the two companies to pay a portion of the $300 million already paid out by the airline and its insurers to crash victims and families.

American blamed Jeppesen software in a Honeywell computer for the crash, saying Jeppesen stored the location of the Cali airport beacon in a different computer file than most beacons.

American lawyers argued that the software company was aware that some beacons could only be accessed by typing in a full name, rather than a single letter.

Colombian crash investigators blamed the crew for the crash, and a U.S. judge ruled similarly in 1997. But an appeals court rejected that, resulting in the trial.

Lawyers for the computer companies argued that the beacon code could have been properly accessed and that the pilots were in error.

American Airlines said it felt vindicated by the jury's verdict.

Honeywell spokesman Jim Veihdeffer said the evidence did not support the jury's decision. Jeppesen spokeswoman Diane Murphy said the company planned to appeal.

http://library.northernlight.com/EB20000614300000023.html?cb=0&dx=2006&sc=0#doc

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), June 14, 2000


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