Nueva York, USA, 13 de abril de 2016.- La firma de abogados norteamericana Kriender&Kriender LLP, según reza en su web corporativa, llevarán ante la Justicia de los EEUU una demanda de unas 80 familiares de víctimas de la tragedia del vuelo, en el que fallecieron 150 personas. La Escuela de Formación ATCA de Arizona llevaba la formación de los pilotos de Lufthansa desde mediados del siglo XX. La denuncia se basa en el presunto delito de homicidio imprudente. La demanda se ha presentado ante un Tribunal Federal de los EEUU, y con ella se pretende dirimir el grado de responsabilidad de la citada Escuela.
Según la demanda la Escuela no habría informado del historial médico del copiloto, ya que dos semanas antes de la tragedia, se le había recomendado ponerse en tratamiento psiquiátrico.
Kriender&Kriender es un bufete especializado newyorquino que se postula como un litigador en caso de catástrofes personales y casos complejos. Según reconoce el bufete en nota de prensa colaborarán con despachos de Alemania, Holanda y Gran Bretaña para litigar contra ATCA, la Escuela de Entrenamiento de Arizona. Esta Escuela pertenece a la organización Lufthansa. Acusa a ATCA no sólo de ser negligente, sin cuidado, sino en que no trasluciera la enfermedad mental del copiloto del vuelo GW9525. «La inestabilidad mental del (copiloto) hizo de él una bomba suicida». Esa historia según razonan tiene su origen en la negligencia de ATCA cuando recibió el entrenamiento.
El Escrito de la Demanda es este COMPLAIN FOR WRONGFUL DEATH, NEGLIGENCE
El bufete norteamericano se publicita en nota de prensa al haber intervenido en los casos de MH370, Asiana214, TWA800,Pan Am103, Lockerbie, los atentados terroristas del 11S, y el vuelo de Continental en Buffalo 3407, Eguptair 990, Swissair 11, Korean Airlines 801, CI611, SQ006, y numerosos más.
La nota de prensa original es la siguiente:
For Immediate Release
Deliberate Crash of Germanwings Flight 4U9525:
Federal Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of 80 Victims’ Families Against Suicide Pilot’s Flight Training School, a Lufthansa Company
New York, NY, April 13, 2016 . . . A federal wrongful death lawsuit was filed today in Phoenix, AZ, by the law firm Kreindler & Kreindler LLP, along with co-counsel from law firms in Germany, Holland and the United Kingdom,1 on behalf of 80 families of victims of the March 24, 2015, Germanwings Flight 4U9525 pilot-suicide disaster in the French Alps that took 150 lives. The defendant in the case is the Airline Training Center Arizona, Inc. («ATCA»), a company of the Lufthansa global airline organization. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
Brian Alexander, a Kreindler partner and military-trained pilot who represents the plaintiffs, said, «Andreas Lubitz, the suicidal pilot, should never have been allowed to enter ATCA’s commercial airline pilot training program. ATCA was one of the most important gateways or checkpoints in Lubitz’s desire to become a Lufthansa commercial pilot. ATCA was not just negligent, but also careless, and even reckless, in failing to apply its own well-advertised ‘stringent’ standards to discover the history of Lubitz’s severe mental illness that should have kept Lubitz from admission to ATCA’s flight school. The company missed several readily- apparent red flags, including that Lubitz’s German medical certificate had a restricting legend on
1 The Kreindler team of attorneys consists of Dr. Elmar Giemulla, Germany; Dr. Marcus Backes and Dr. Christof Wellens of Dr. Backes + Partner, Germany; Maya Spetter of Spetter Advocaat & Mediator, The Netherlands; Evert Wytema of Van Wassenaer Wytema, The Netherlands; and Jim Morris of Irwin Mitchell LLP, United Kingdom.
its face specifically because of that mental illness history, which included severe depression and suicidal ideations. That restriction was a clear warning that Lubitz was a man with a history of unresolved problems. He even lied to the Federal Aviation Administration in an effort to conceal those problems.»
The complaint filed today on behalf of victims’ families summarizes their claims as follows:
«ATCA was negligent, careless and reckless and breached its duty of care to the passengers of Germanwings Flight 4U9525 in failing to properly screen Lubitz when he applied for admission to its commercial airline training center because, among other things, proper screening would have revealed his history of severe depression, suicidal ideations, hospitalization on account of such mental disorders, his dishonesty and untrustworthiness, making him unqualified to become a Lufthansa commercial airline pilot.
«During his flight training, ATCA failed to properly monitor Lubitz for symptoms of psychological abnormalities, reactive depression and personality disorders and when Lubitz exhibited such symptoms ATCA failed to disqualify him from continuing his training to become a commercial airline pilot.
«Furthermore, ATCA was the gatekeeper to Lubitz’s career as a Lufthansa commercial airline pilot and knew or should have known that Lubitz’s mental disorders and lack of trustworthiness created the risk that were he not denied admission to its flight training program passengers in planes he piloted would be exposed to unreasonable risk of death and harm.»
Attorney Marc S. Moller, also a partner of the Kreindler firm and lead counsel in numerous aviation crash cases, said, «Lubitz’s particular history of depression and mental instability made him a suicide time bomb, triggered to go off under the ordinary stresses of life, particularly the kind of stresses a commercial pilot routinely faces. That episodes of severe depression and suicidal ideations will recur is well known, even though when they will recur is unpredictable. That said, the fuse which culminated in Lubitz’s suicide on March 24, 2015, that took the lives of 149 passengers and his fellow crewmates was lit when ATCA negligently allowed him to begin commercial pilot training. The plaintiffs in this case correctly claim that ATCA enabled Lubitz to make the Flight 4U9525 passengers the victims of his derangement.»
«Suggestions that physician/patient privacy issues prevented Lubitz’s medical providers from disclosing the scope of his problems are bogus,» said Moller. «Nothing prevented ATCA, a U.S. company, from inquiring further into Lubitz’s background and even requiring that he waive any ‘privacy’ issues to ensure that the safety of the passengers on aircraft he piloted would not be compromised.»
«A goal of this lawsuit,» said Alexander, «beyond seeking fair compensation for the families affected by the Germanwings disaster, is to focus attention on the urgent need for regular periodic mental health screening of all pilots to further ensure the safety of airline passengers.»
