A 1994 US Airways crash continues to have an impact throughout the aerospace industry. A jury has decided that Boeing supplier, Parker Hannifin is mostly to blame for the crash that took the lives of 132 people, further damaged the rep of an already struggling US Airways for years to come and served as a rallying point for critics of the Boeing 737.

The jury's decision apportions some 75% of the blame for the accident to Parker-Hannifin, who build the power control unit servo valve in the 737 rudder control unit that is blamed for a malfunction that caused the airliner to depart controlled flight without time for the flight crew to correct the problem. The rest of the blame was placed on Boeing but since the jet maker has already settle with all parties previously (in 1999), the blame factor is moot.

Not blamed, though, is US Airways or the two pilots who were killed in the accident. US Airways has already settled with the victims (paying a rumored $1 million per passenger). They noted that the verdict was, "…great for us that the pilots and the airline were found to have no liability," according to Bill Pietragallo, US Airways' attorney.

It was Parker Hannifin's contention that pilot error caused the crash, explaining that "Our valve worked perfectly even after the crash," Parker Hannifin spokeswoman Lorrie Paul Crum said. "They dug it out of the hillside, it worked perfectly." Crum announced that the company will probably appeal the verdict.

The NTSB ruled in 1999, after rumors of much internal wrangling, that a malfunction in the rudder control system caused the jet to roll and descent to impact, "At about 7:03 p.m., the plane's rudder deflected rapidly to the left as far as it could go and stayed there." It was this ruling that forced the FAA's hand and necessitated a mandated redesign of the 737's rudder system that is required to be completed by 2006.

Parker Hannifin's defense revolved around their belief that USA 247 first officer, Charles Emmett, overreacted to "turbulence caused by a jet ahead of Boeing 737" and inadvertently stalled the plane. In their defense, US Airways called an expert witness/Boeing 737 pilot who credibly testified that Emmett reacted properly when the plane began to depart controlled flight.

FMI: http://www.usairways.com, http://www.boeing.com, http://www.parker.com