Continental Airlines Sued By Kin of Woman Killed in Buffalo Air Tragedy

In the first of what could be many such civil suits, relatives of a woman who died along with 48 other people on Continental Airlines Flight 3407 when the commuter plane crashed into a Buffalo suburb in February 2009 have filed a lawsuit against the airline and others.

Susan Wehle, 55, of Amerst, N.Y. was killed when the plane fell from the sky and into a home in Clarence, N.Y., killing all on board and one person in the home. Investigators have not yet determined a cause of the tragedy, but ice that had built up on the wings of the plane as well as the crew’s handling of the crippled jet and other factors are suspected.

Unspecified Damages Sought

The suit, filed on February 26, 2009 in federal court in Buffalo, alleges negligence and wrongful death by defendants Continental Airlines, Pinnacle Airlines, Colgan Air, the company which trained the pilots operating the doomed flight, and Bombardier Aerospace, the Canadian firm that made the Dash 8 Q400 aircraft.

Wehle’s lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages for her death on behalf of her sons, Jonah and Jacob Mink, as well as compensation for any pain and suffering by Wehle as the plane plummeted. Wehle was the daughter of Holocaust survivors, a cantor at a synagogue, and had performed in theater companies in New York and Chicago.

Pilot Error and Antiquated Equipment Alleged

Attorneys for Wehle said the pilot of the Continental Airlines plane may have overacted to an automated warning on board the plane about ice on the wings. Also, the pilot may have been violating airline rules for operating the plane on auto pilot under such icy, wintry conditions, the attorneys alleged in the suit.

Flying the commuter plane on autopilot allowed signs of trouble to be concealed until it was too late, according to Wehle’s attorneys. Also, the plane’s deicing equipment was outdated and failed to adequately clear ice from the wings, leading to the crash, according to Wehle’s suit.

The flight was in route from Newark, N.J. and just six miles from arriving at its destination, Buffalo Niagara International Airport, when it crashed. The National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the tragedy is expected to take a year or more.

Wehle’s attorneys are conducting their own, independent investigation in preparation for the suit, officials said.

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