Claims Lapse In Airline Security Allowed Terrorists Into The System

The leaseholder of the World Trade Center property is arguing in a Manhattan court that United Airlines is at least partly responsible for allowing terrorists Mohammed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari on board a US Airways flight in Portland, ME. The pair eventually wound up hijacking an American Airlines 767 which impacted the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder, argues that because United, now United Continental Holdings, was one of the carriers responsible for the operation of the only security checkpoint in Portland, it was responsible for all of the passengers coming through the checkpoint, regardless of the airline on which they held a ticket. Reuters reports that Silverstein told the court that security failures in Portland on the part of United eventually led to the presence of Atta and al Omari on the American flight, where they carried out their plan.

In the hearing Thursday before District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, Silverstein's attorney Richard Williamson said that United was "just asleep at the switch," calling Portland the "first line of defense" in preventing the hijacking.

But the judge, who in 2009 dismissed claims against other airlines related to the attack, asked aloud if he would be "acting inconsistently" if he did not also dismiss the claim against United. The airline's attorney, Jeffery Ellis, told the court that "the duty is to the passengers on our flights."

Silverstein has also named Boeing, the Massachusetts Port Authority, and independent security companies as he seeks to recoup $8.4 billion in damages for lost property and lost business. Judge Hellerstein has limited any potential damage claim to $2.8 billion, the amount Silverstein reportedly paid for the leases.

FMI: www.nysd.uscourts.gov/judge/Hellerstein