Suit Aimed To "Shed Light" On Security Flaws

Hoping to hold a spotlight on what they say were glaring security flaws at the airport, four Maryland families who lost loved ones at the Pentagon on 9/11 -- along with other victims and their families -- have settled their lawsuit against American Airlines and several other related companies.

"The 9/11 report judged the government response to 9/11 and was geared to improving our system of intelligence and how the government could take greater responsibility, but it was the lawsuit that dealt with the corporations," Maryland-based lawyer Keith Franz told the National Press Club. He was quoted by the Baltimore Sun. "We believe that our exposing flaws in the system has made these corporations change their policies and establish a greater level of vigilance."

Franz and his law firm, headquartered in Towson, MD, near Baltimore, interviewed more than 80 airline workers ranging from baggage handlers to top executives, trying to figure out how 19 al Qaeda hijackers were able to slip through security.

In the case of AAL 77, which departed Washington-Dulles that terrible morning, "We have the one piece of evidence that is indisputable," Franz said, "and that is [the video of] the passengers and the hijackers going through the security checkpoint at Dulles. It is clear that they did not even abide by their own procedures in dealing with people that set off the metal detectors on two occasions."

Those hijackers flew the Los Angeles-bound flight into the Pentagon.

Franz says, as a result of his lawsuit, the security landscape at airports nationwide has changed for the better. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.

FMI: www.usdoj.gov/archive/victimcompensation