Blame It On The Weatherman? Suit Claims WX-Related Injuries Were Preventable

Donna Dacko and Inga Isakson have filed a legal claim against both the FAA and Weather Service International (WSI) over injuries sustained when Alaska Airlines Flight 464 hit severe turbulence on the way into ONT midmorning on December 25, 2007. According to their attorney, Alisa Brodkowitz, the claim precedes the inevitable  lawsuit and was filed to avoid a statute of limitations issue, on Dec 25.

Dacko and Isakson were up doing final compliance checks during the incident. Isakson suffered a head injury with loss of consciousness and concussion while Dacko sustained multiple fractures to her ankle. No other crewmembers or passengers were injured. 

The claim lists WSI as negligent in accurately reporting the weather to the airline. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a SIGMET for occasional severe turbulence, but that information was allegedly not included in the report provided to the flight crew. CFR 121.601 requires the dispatcher to provide all weather reports and forecasts to the PIC.

The claim against the FAA holds ATC responsible for not passing on the SIGMET to the inbound flight. The NTSB report shows that some aircraft did get the advisory, but flight 4646 "apparently... was not one of them."

Lawyer and former Alaska Airlines pilot John Nance was quoted by the Seattle Times as saying that he has never heard of a case similar to this. "For a suit like this to be successful they are going to have to show the defendants, the FAA in particular, had evidence of turbulence and had a duty to transmit it to the crew and didn't do that," said Nance. "That's a steep mountain to climb."

The NTSB report on the accident lists the probable cause of the incident to be: "The lack of turbulence forecasts available to the flight crew, which resulted in the flight attendants not being seated when the flight encountered severe terrain-induced turbulence. Contributing to the accident were the terrain-induced turbulence, the failure of the company that provided the flight's weather briefing to forecast severe turbulence, and the failure of the dispatcher to provide the National Weather Service severe turbulence forecast to the flight."

The claim shows the flight attendants are seeking to have WSI pay for medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and lost wages.

FMI: www.NTSB.gov