american airlines flight 1420 settlement

Chu testified she is still haunted that she could not do more for Rachel. The NTSB report cited fatigue as a contributing factor. If you can, provide 1-2 sources of information backing up this correction. Experienced at flying theBoeing 727for American, he transitioned to flying the twin-engineMcDonnell Douglas MD-80series in 1991. American Airlines Flight 1420 The flight crew was unable to control Flight 1420 during inclement weather, causing the aircraft to overshoot the runway, crash into a chain-link fence and strike an anchored stanchion in Little Rock, Arkansas. "We are pleased that the jury did not award punitive damages in this instance, this was a consensual affair that lasted for 8 months," he said. "I felt like last year, with the memorial, for a lot of people that I know and for me, that was a time when we could put it to rest," Ozmun said. Ten passengers and the pilot in command received fatal injuries, while many of the other passengers were seriously injured, and the aircraft was destroyed. Safety recommendations concerning these issues are addressed to the FAA and the National Weather Service. The flight was landing during a severe thunderstorm and ran off the runway. ]:^V+M'O endstream endobj 2 0 obj <>stream American Airlines contends that, because the crash would not have occurred had the spoilers been activated, the proper inquiry is whether the failure to deploy the spoilers was itself the product of the type of mental state justifying punitive damages. The aircraft involved in the incident was aMcDonnell DouglasMD-82 (registrationN215AA[2]), a derivative of theMcDonnell Douglas DC-9and part of theMcDonnell Douglas MD-80series of aircraft. Thereafter American Airlines reached settlement agreements with a majority of the domestic Plaintiffs. Buschmann's estate presented evidence that the spoilers were deployed and had malfunctioned (not through the captain's fault), and that the aircraft did not encounter turbulence. An American Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8, on a flight from . ONE Forgotten Checklist Cause Disastrous Accident | American airline 1420 - YouTube 0:00 / 8:46 #visioninsight ONE Forgotten Checklist Cause Disastrous Accident | American airline 1420. [1]:134With the light loading of the landing gear, the aircraft's brakes were ineffective at slowing down the plane, which continued down the runway at high speed. New York brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald confirmed Tuesday that it has agreed to settle with American Airlines for $135 million in a lawsuit seeking damages from the September 11, 2001, terrorist . Eleven of the 145 people aboard were killedthe captain and ten passengers. The trucks arrived at 12:08 and worked to extinguish the fire while assisting survivors. The captain and 10 passengers were killed; the first officer, four flight Identifiers. Dedicated on April 10, 2007, the Rachel Fuller and Ouachita Singers Memorial Amphitheater is located on the campus of OBU in Arkadelphia. T. August 22-23, 2000 . is a personal injury law firm based in Chicago, Illinois. [1]:55, After Flight 1420 and the Palm Springs incident, American Airlines revised its checklist so that pilots would confirm that the spoilers are armed for auto-deployment before landing, confirm spoiler deployment and deploy spoilers manually if they had failed to automatically deploy.[1]:87[5]. About two seconds after the wheels touched down, First Officer Origel stated, "We're down. by She acknowledged becoming emotionally invested in the trial's outcome. Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests. A fire in the center and rear portions of the fuselage erupted. The Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Division of the Little Rock Fire Department responded to the crash after a call was placed to the division at 11:52 p.m. and left the station within one minute of the call. Honor or memorial gifts are an everlasting way to pay tribute to someone who has touched your life. The MD-82 crashed into the security fence 800 meters from the end of the runway and then sit the support light structure. Flight 1420 departed from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, about 2240 with 2 flight crewmembers, 4 flight attendants, and 139 passengers aboard and touched down in Little Rock at 2350:20. Multiple lawsuits were filed after the crash, and on December 15, 1999, theJudicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigationconsolidated the various federal lawsuits for consolidated and coordinated pretrial proceedings and assigned the case to the late United States District Court Senior JudgeHenry Woodsof the Eastern District of Arkansas. In the only liability trial arising out of the crash of flight 1420, a federal jury in Little Rock awarded Captain Buschmann's family $2 million in wrongful death damages in a lawsuit they filed against the Little Rock National Airport. The automatic spoiler and braking systems is crucial for landing on a wet runway since they prevent lift and force more weight onto the landing gear. Without these deployed, even manually, the plane landed and kept sliding down the runway. The plane had struck a lighting array, causing extensive damage, and had broken into three major pieces, with the front of the fuselage at a ninety-degree angle, facing southeast, while the rest of the aircraft turned roughly 180 degrees and faced the runway. Flight 1420 carried 145 individuals: 139 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants. The NTSB investigation also focused on pilot behavior in inclement weather, to determine the impact the storms may have had on the pilots' decision-making process while approaching Little Rock National Airport. 1A, 6A. American Airlines settled several of them and others went to trial to determine how much the airline should pay in compensatory damages. American Airlines From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository Contents 1 Older aircraft and livery 2 New livery aircraft 2.1 Airbus A320 family 2.1.1 Airbus A319 2.1.2 Airbus A320 2.1.3 Airbus A321 2.2 Airbus A330 2.2.1 Airbus A330-200 2.2.2 Airbus A330-300 2.3 Boeing 737 2.3.1 Boeing 737-800 2.3.2 Boeing 737 MAX 8 2.4 Boeing 757-200 The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable causes of this accident were the flight crew's failure to discontinue the approach when severe thunderstorms and their associated hazards to flight operations had moved into the airport area and the crew's failure to ensure that the spoilers had extended after touchdown. - It has been 22 years since American Airlines Flight 1420 crashed in Little Rock. hWmo0OG%N)kTAYMaJwnW@6~;?>9JI{*sE Therefore, Judge Woods ruled only the domestic passengers would be permitted to pursue punitive damages claims. 0 references. Due to the hurried decision to land, the crew missed two crucial prelanding steps. Eight of the nine crew members and 65 of the 149 passengers on board were killed. Flight 1420 departed from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, about 2240 with 2 flight . Creating an account gives you access to all these features. But, instead of resolving unsettled issues for survivors, some just added to the sensationalism. Ozmun and Fuller were hopeful that a monument, erected last year by the airport to honor the dead, the survivors and their families, would provide some closure. American has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $95,000. The parties dispute whether the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could find that the disposition or mental state of one or both members of the flight crew had a degree of willfulness, wantonness, or conscious indifference to the risk that the crew would crash the aircraft due to the inclement weather sufficient to allow an inference of malice. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral standards of judgment, this normality was much more terrifying than all the atrocities put together.Hannah Arendt (19061975), I can never bring you to realize the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (18591930). Give a donation in someones name to mark a special occasion, honor a friend or colleague or remember a beloved family member. hVn@yG:+!$J[(hX{l.mVsf LfB#Gr&S,dbI=^w7c}j/:hgM7Q\~~vIwuur}{T1ikaPeNW [1]:135136, The aircraft continued past the end of the runway, traveling another 800 feet and striking a security fence and an ILS localizer array. Woods told the jury the Chu case was "one of the most difficult" and complex that had been tried before him. +)]M5 PzSgh3sWMU5(K,5w #{jlST:6wSg?We'3yS33{G5'gh4wZX's*kuj3lVk& |)\xKSq"@h_8Ld^ver]$PkKyO.hl5}W+3hrCX.$6?Ime3C[R7 AAirpass was a membership-based discount program offered by American Airlines to frequent flyers launched in 1981. Copyright 2023, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. The evidence provides no clear explanation for why the flight crew failed to deploy the spoilers. [1]:4, The pilots rushed to land as soon as possible, leading to errors in judgment that included the crew's failure to complete the airline's pre-landing checklist before landing. On June 1, 1999, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating as Flight 1420 overran the runway upon landing in Little Rock and crashed. %PDF-1.6 % "We're very pleased. For Ozmun, a video production instructor who was filming the OBU choir trip, the court cases did nothing to ease the pain of losing students and a close colleague's young daughter. This ruling was later upheld on appeal. American Airlines Flight 1420 June 1, 1999, a McDonnel Douglas DC-9-82, dispatched as American Airlines 1420, crashed after it had overran runway 4R, at Little Rock National Airport. [1]:2Adverse weather caused the plane that was intended for Flight 1420 to be delayed in arriving at DFW. This became an important factor later. Contributing to the accident were the flight crew's (1) impaired performance resulting from fatigue and the situational stress associated with the intent to land under the circumstances, (2) continuation of the approach to a landing when the company's maximum crosswind component was exceeded, and (3) use of reverse thrust greater than 1.3 engine pressure ratio after landing. "Of course, this time of year is even more memory-filled than other times of the year.". "[10], A 2004 memorial ceremony was held adjacent to the airport. Green, Andrew, and Kim McGuire. 45:00. This final impact resulted in 11 passengers losing their lives and 44 facing serious injuries, including the First Officer and three crew members. Charlie Fuller, Rachel's father and also a passenger, found his daughter after she emerged from the burning plane, and moved her away from the wreckage. On the aircraft at the time of the crash were two flight crew members, four flight attendants, and 139 passengers. "[10], About 10 years after the crash, David Rapoport, a lawyer who was a member of the court-appointed Plaintiffs' Steering Committee,[12]stated that "after all these years [whether Captain Buschmann was "absolved" of all responsibility for the crash] is still a matter reasonable people who are fully informed may disagree on", however, there should be consensus "flight operations should not be conducted in the terminal area when thunderstorms are on the flight path; and non-frangible objects should not be placed where it is foreseeable an aircraft may go. Sitelinks. * Richard Buschmann, 48, Naperville, Ill., the. The flight landed in Dallas thirty-nine minutes behind schedule due to a weather delay on the approach into DFW. dC$;Aj&M%X American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Little Rock National Airport in the United States. I was able to dump my mess onto them and they made sense of it all and explained everything along the way, RAPOPORT WEISBERG & SIMS P.C. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. The final NTSB report cited pilot error in choosing to land in a thunderstorm and not following the prelanding checklist. When Debra Sattari boarded American Airlines Flight 1420 on Tuesday, she hoped a new Internet romance would blossom into the real thing when she reached Little Rock. [1]:2Airline policy set a maximum pilot duty time of 14 hours, and Flight 1420 was the flight crew's last flight of the day. American Airlines Flight 1420 The flight crew was unable to control Flight 1420 during inclement weather, causing the aircraft to overshoot the runway, crash into a chain-link fence and strike an anchored stanchion in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was concluded that the airport failed to comply with airport safety standards. Air Crash Investigations - S01E01 - Racing the Storm (American Airlines Flight 1420) Comedy Central. The McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 overran the runway in Little Rock, Arkansas after landing in the middle of a brutal thunderstorm. ")4XQ `f].qK0c.- @c}e:*WwGET5= D,#`0[qpmpv7o|&{(8ppJTv!>2^tn+,ue3T:Nh8ECok8Agyi7#/M,iEYS[wN-68wlm7%_&nCYH$O?IL|_a1 Np6l*d6&x,E w|Nq N qP O w"R?~bdbmdlw % endstream endobj 83 0 obj <>stream American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Little Rock National Airport. publication date. [1]:11, Flight 1420 was staffed with four flight attendants, all of whom were qualified on the MD-80 and had recently received refresher training on emergency procedures. The plane landed at 8:10 p.m. and the flight to Little Rock was scheduled to depart at 8:28. "In view of the evidence presented in this case regarding the C.A.R.E., we recommend that AA add a scenario in the training program to include potential problems that can occur when CARE Team members become personally involved with victims or family members," the jury statement said. The program is best known for a previous offering of unlimited travel on American Airlines and unlimited access to Admirals Club locations. It was Flight 1420's co-pilot, Michael Origel. Lisa Rowe of Cabot made it a point to see the latest high-profile court trial that seeks to place blame for the deadly crash of American Airlines Flight 1420. LITTLE ROCK A complete list of the passengers and crew aboard American Airlines Flight 1420, with hometowns where available. Worth (KDFW) to Little Rock, Arkansas (KLIT) on June 1, 1999. [1]:157The time of the crash occurred several hours after both pilots usual bedtime. [1]:23, Air traffic control at Little Rock had originally told Flight 1420 to expect an approach to runway 22L. Struthers was given a raise for his work with the Customer Assistance Relief Effort Team even though he had violated an unwritten company rule about fraternizing with plane crash survivors or their relatives. Air Crash Investigations - Cracks in the System (Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101) HDvideomusic. Hotard said the company has not decided if it will pursue an appeal. Flight 1420 was commanded by Captain Richard Buschmann, age 48, an experienced pilot with 10,234 flight hours, nearly half of which were accumulated flying the MD-80 series of aircraft. Photo: The aircraft was completely destroyed in the crash. Read our Privacy Policy. American Airlines Flight 1420 Date: 1st June, 1999 Origin: Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas Intended destination: Little Rock, Arkansas The contributing role of fatigue It's alleged the flight crew was distracted by extreme weather and impacted by fatigue. July 25, 2000 Due to bad weather on the inbound flight and a crew working limit of 14 hours, American opted to tow a new MD-82 to the stand to allow the current crew to take off before their duty limit at 23:16 went into effect. She alleges the airport knowingly failed to adhere to runway safety zone standards and that light structures between the end of the runway and the river caused otherwise avoidable deaths. Flight and weather conditions Flight 1420 was scheduled to depart DFW at 20:28 Central Daylight Time and arrive in Little Rock at 21:41. The crash and lawsuits were initially covered widely by newspaper, radio and television reporters, both locally and nationally. "Since many of those on the plane that night hold Captain Buschmann at least partially responsible for the crash, I don't think the publicity related to this trial is very helpful to them," Fuller said. [1]:1However, the flight crew was advised before boarding that the departure would be delayed, and that theNational Weather Servicehad issued in-flight weather advisories indicating severe thunderstorms along the planned flight path. &8 O5i{y&FJQT File usage on other wikis. Vj~#S~|Yj'PS=C.f.H-Iba@z[(zj3vFTz!vTwKk"}ZV(F%sfpyVDC/t p!lV[k"E\6pK 1_`qDjXcX[(dTw]WXpeg)WIGR AbmKy.A224J7d`N#zinN{*I?5>$w6]an'sjA'!q5p"_X`\vDDAxi|oJ}) Y=NCcj|)Yv,:9+/'! . [1]:116As the aircraft approached, a severethunderstormarrived over the airport, and at 23:44 the first officer notified the controller that the crew had lost sight of the runway. The reverse thrust and brakes did little to slow the aircraft and only caused a loss of directional control. Additional support provided by the Arkansas General Assembly. Thereafter American Airlines reached settlement agreements with a majority of the domestic Plaintiffs.". Fly from Wilmington on American Airlines, Korean Air, Qatar Airways and more. Text is available under the Creative . On June 1, 1999, the pilots of American Airlines Flight 1420 lost control of an MD-82 aircraft after touching down at Little Rock, Arkansas, crashing into a light stanchion and breaking apart. [1]:10The first officer had been with the airline for less than a year, and had only 182 hours of flight time with American Airlines as an MD-80 pilot. The NTSB has not reconsidered its probable cause finding that focused completely on pilot error., While people on both sides of the debate have facts to support their arguments, in Rapoports opinion: We should all be able to agree that from a safety standpoint, flight operations should not be conducted in the terminal area when thunderstorms are on the flight path, and non-frangible objects should not be placed where it is foreseeable aircraft may go.. He was referring to Rachel Fuller, 14, who had been traveling with her father, OBU choir director Charlie Fuller, and died days after the crash from her injuries. On June 1, 1999, at 2350:44 central daylight time, American Airlines flight 1420, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 (MD-82), N215AA, crashed after it overran the end of runway 4R during landing at Little Rock National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. The first officer of Flight 4184 was Jeffrey Gagliano, 30. Chicago, IL 60602, 2023 Rapoport Weisberg & Sims P.C. Chu and the other domestic passengers are to share in a separate punitive damage award to be determined later. The aircraft flying the routes was N215AA, delivered to American Airlines in August 1983 and flying since then. Two international passengers have taken their cases to trial. for a free case evaluation or telephone our Chicago office toll free at866-693-3806. The first trial resulted in an $11 million judgment, and jurors in the other case returned a $6.5 million judgment. The MD-82 was a popular aircraft in the American fleet for decades. On the punitive issue, Branson said he felt Chu has achieved a moral victory, since the jury felt strongly enough to make a statement about it. File. The first was failing to arm the automatic spoiler system and automatic braking system. [1]:12The aircraft was powered byPratt & Whitney JT8D-217Cturbofanjet engines. At the time of the incident, the plane had 49,136 flight hours and 27,103 cycles (take-offs and landings). For example, passengers traveling on international tickets were prohibited by an international treaty (theWarsaw Convention) from recovering punitive damages. On June 1, she was onboard American Airlines Flight 1420 when it split apart and caught fire after overrunning the runway at Little Rock's airport. Air Crash Investigations Mayday s12E12 Seconds to Survive Santa Brbara Airlines Flight 518. American Eagle Flight 4184 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Indianapolis, Indiana to Chicago, Illinois, United States. This occurred at night in stormy weather conditions. The flight originated in Chicago, Illinois, flying to Salt Lake City, Utah, before flying to Dallas/Fort Worth. have achieved multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for individuals with lawsuits arising frommedical malpractice,product liability,semitruck and motor vehicle accidents,workplace injuries and construction accidentsin Illinois and Wisconsin. Hi there! Jetliner Crashes in LR. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 2, 1999, pp. He, too, was considered to be a competent pilot by colleagues and he had accumulated more than 5,000 flight hours. If you feel you may be in need of legal services, personallyemail an attorneyfrom Rapoport Weisberg & Sims P.C. Since then, I haven't followed it closely," Ozmun said. Pranjal is enthusiastic about new aircraft types and has his stories regularly picked up by renowned publications including Forbes. National Transportation Safety Board 490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, DC 20594. On October 23, 2001, the NTSB issued its determination on the cause of the crash:[1]:169170. 1 reference. Experts from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)performed a study recording behavior of pilots landing at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport,[1]:142which aimed to see whether pilots were willing to land in thunderstorms. 2IfdKP} ;(zU|()( 47:03. Photo: Perfect Storm: The Crash Of American Airlines Flight 1420, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Miami International Airport, New York JFK Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, 18 Destinations: AirAsia X's Summer Operations From Kuala Lumpur, Venezuela's Conviasa Announces New Destination In Syria, Moomin Makeover: Finnair Celebrates 100 Years With Special Airbus A350 Livery, Turkish Airlines Airbus A321neo Returns To Istanbul Following Engine Failure, Air Canada Reacts To Proposed Toronto Pearson Flight Limits, Vistara Brand To Discontinue After Merger With Air India. Since this structure was not made to break and reduce impact, the left side of the fuselage was directly hit and split from the rest of the plane. [1]:42The NTSB also conducted ground tests on similar aircraft, including another American Airlines MD-80 for which the autospoiler system failed to deploy during a runway overrun, an event inPalm Springs, Californiathat did not result in destruction of the aircraft. info@aircrashdetective.com AA flight 1420 - Little Rock 16 years ago today, I was the Investigator-In-Charge of (IIC) of the accident involving American Airlines Flight 1420, an MD-82, N215AA, that had departed from Dallas/Ft. "To me, it's important to be there and hear everything that's going on, even though it's very hard.". The aircraft touched down on Runway 4R at 23:50:20. The jury rejected the airport's argument that Captain Buschmann was at fault in causing his own death. [1]:116As a result, Flight 1420 faced away from the airport for several minutes, and because the plane's weather radar had a narrow and forward-facing field of view, the flight crew could not see thunderstorms approaching the airport during their turn. AA1420Little_rock_airplane_web.ogv (Ogg Theora video file, length 1 min 1 s, 320 240 pixels, 104 kbps) Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. American Airlines Flight 1420 crashed 23 years ago today, on June 1st, 1999. The NTSB conducted extensive testing to determine whether the automatic spoiler and brake systems had been armed by the pilots before landing. All Rights Reserved, workplace injuries and construction accidents, Medical Malpractice Frequently Asked Questions, Paramedics And Emergency Responders Negligence, Representative Malpractice Cases In Chicago, Wrongful Death Lawsuit Frequently Asked Questions, Aviation Accidents Frequently Asked Questions, Automobile Accident Lawsuits Frequently Asked Questions And Answers, Truck And Motor Vehicle Accidents Frequently Asked Questions. Flight 1420 carried 145 individuals: 139 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants. 9 of the 145 people aboard were immediately killedthe captain and 8 passengers. Donations made to the CALS Foundation are tax-deductible for United States federal income tax purposes. On June 1, 1999, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (registration number 215AA) overran the runway upon landing in Little Rock and crashed. The weather, along with confusion about the exact location of the aircraft, led to the crash being discovered at 12:01 a.m. when firefighters saw the burning plane in the distance. We're sliding!" This project is funded in part by a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant award. From a total of 1,952 thunderstorm encounters, 1,310 pilots (67 percent) flew into thunderstorms during landing attempts. After more than 10 hours of deliberating, a federal jury Wednesday awarded Nancy Chu $5.7 million for mental and physical injuries she received in the crash of American Airlines Flight. "I'm not a party to (the lawsuit), so it's not something I've thought about which side is right. So, it is reasonable to argue the captain has been absolved of all fault in relation to the crash., On the other hand, he said: The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the crash was the flight crews failure to discontinue the approach when severe thunderstorms and their associated hazards to flight operations had moved into the airport area and the crews failure to ensure that the spoilers had extended after touchdown. Additionally, the passenger injury and wrongful death cases were based on allegations of pilot error, and the airline admitted liability in all of these cases. 0 references . American Airlines Flight 1420 Diarsipkan 2013-02-28 di Wayback Machine. Contents 1 Aircraft 2 Flight crew 3 Flight and weather conditions 4 Crash 5 Investigation 1:22:51. Struthers was fired after lawyers at headquarters discovered the affair, but his manager knew about it months before any action was taken. Flight status, tracking, and historical data for American Airlines 373 (AA373/AAL373) 04-Mar-2023 (KCLT-KMIA) including scheduled, estimated, and actual departure and arrival times. Even Rowe said she needed a break and missed last Thursday's testimony because of the stress of the trial and the anniversary. International passengers are only allowed to seek compensatory damages, designed to compensate passengers for their injuries. American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Little Rock National Airport in USA. daniel donn. When asked recently whether the pilot in command of flight 1420 was absolved of all responsibility for the crash, David E. Rapoport, a member of the court-appointed Plaintiffs Steering Committee in consolidated litigation arising out of the crash who recovered more than $14 million from American Airlines insurer for a few of the passengers and their families a decade ago responded: After all these years, this is still a matter reasonable people who are fully informed may disagree on., On one hand, Rapoport explained: A jury found the airport was liable and awarded the captains family $2 million in wrongful death damages. Her lawyer pushed for a jury bus tour of the crash site May 19, partly as "closure" for Mrs. Buschmann, the lawyer said. However, there has been little retrospective coverage of the crash and legal aftermath in recent years. American Airlines Flight 1420was a flight fromDallas/Fort Worth International Airport(DFW) toLittle Rock National Airportin the United States. The flight crew lost control of the aircraft, and it slid down the runway. In the only liability trial arising out of the crash of flight 1420, a federal jury in Little Rock awarded Captain Buschmann's family $2 million in wrongful death damages in a lawsuit they filed against the Little Rock National Airport. [1]:157The report states that sleep deprived individuals are likely to try the same method of problem solving again and again without looking at alternative options. Multiple lawsuits were filed after the crash and on December 15, 1999, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the various federal lawsuits over the crash for consolidated and coordinated pretrial proceedings and assigned the case to the late United States District Court Senior Judge Henry Woods of the Eastern District of Arkansas. And now, Buschmann's lawsuit has shifted the focus back to blame _ and from blaming the pilot and the airline to blaming the airport. Diversionary airports for the flight were Nashville, Tennessee, and Dallas/Fort Worth. [1]:3The flight crew discussed the weather reports but decided to expedite the approach rather than diverting to the designated alternate airport (Nashville International Airport) or returning to DFW.