Airplane Improperly Loaded Causing Crash In 2013

A jury in Cook County, IL has awarded a total of $115.57 million in damages to the families of three of the seven crewmembers aboard a National Airlines Boeing 747 that went down shortly after takeoff from Bagram, Afghanistan on April 29, 2013.

The airplane had been loaded with five USMC Mine Resistant Armor Protected (MRAP) vehicles that were being transported to Dubai and eventually back to California.

Evidence showed that the vehicles were improperly secured in the aircraft, and the load shifted on takeoff. They went through the aft bulkhead of the airplane, damaging control systems. The airplane stalled and went down, exploding in a fireball. The entire sequence was captured on a dashcam of a vehicle driving near the base, and the video quickly went viral on the Internet.

USMC Life reports that he families of three of the crewmembers sued National Air Cargo, Inc., a company affiliated with National Airlines which planned, loaded and restrained the five MRAPs in the airplane through its office in the Middle East. The jury awarded $47.25 million in damages to the estate of Captain Brad Hasler, 43 million to the estate of First Officer Jamie Brokaw, and $25.5 million to the estate of Captain Jeremy Lipka, an off-duty pilot who was in the cockpit at the time of the accident.

The families of the other four crewmembers have also sued the company, and those trials are expected to begin soon.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report