Claim Homes Were Damaged When The Plane Went Down

The owners of three homes in Birmingham, AL have sued UPS over the accident which occurred August 16 in which a UPS A300 went down short of the runway at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. The four plaintiffs also named the Birmingham Airport Authority in their suit.

All four live across the street from the site where the plane went down. The say the plane impacted several trees on their properties, and debris from the airplane put holes in their roofs along with damaging other structures.

The Courier-Journal newspaper reports that, according to the complaint, the families live in an "isolated three-home community" that was created when the airport authority purchased 570 of 600 homes on a list to make way for airport expansion. The three homes in question were not on that list. One homeowner said through her lawyers that since the expansion, flights have become more frequent, and the airplanes fly so low over her house that she "waves to the pilots as she retrieves her morning newspaper."

The plane came down in the vacant field cleared by the airport authority when the airport was expanded. The suit claims that the expansion set up conditions that led to the accident.

The four say their property values have been severely diminished, and that they suffered mental anguish and stress as a result. They seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, fees, and court costs.

(NTSB image)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov