Flight 811 returns to route

Press, 26 June 1989, Page 1

Flight 811 returns to route

PA Auckland The United Airlines plane involved in February’s tragic accident over the Pacific will be flying the Honolulu-Auckland route again in three months. Passengers and relatives of the nine who were sucked out of the Auckland-bound Boeing 747 through a gaping hole say the decision to patch the plane up and leave the 811 flight number unchanged is insensitive. Mr Kevin Campbell, of Wellington, the father of a victim, Lee Campbell, aged 24, has been in contact with other relatives and survivors, but says United does not care about their feelings. “They know that we are not happy,” says Mr Campbell. “They considered changing the flight number but decided not to bother. Most other planes that have gone down have had their numbers changed.” United executives have refused to answer his letters or talk to him on the two occasions he returned to Honolulu, he said.

Twenty-five claims have been filed in the United States since the February air tragedy in which nine people, including one New Zealander, were sucked out of United Airlines Flight 811 from Honolulu for Auckland. A California lawyer, Juanita Madole, who is handling 14 of the cases, said more could be filed once it had been decided where the cases would be tried. A number of the 328 accident survivors retained lawyers but had not yet filed, she said. Cases have so far been lodged in Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Ohio against the airline and the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing. A panel of nine Federal judges will allocate all the cases to one court to be heard before one judge. People who are holding back from going to court may decide to file once the judge and the court has been decided if they find that decision favourable.