U.S. passengers to sue Aeromexico over Durango plane crash

Eleven US passengers

who survived an Aeromexico crash in the northern Mexican state of Durango on July 31 have filed lawsuits against the airline in Chicago on Monday, according to a statement released by Chicago-based attorneys Corboy & Demetrio.

The Mexico City-bound jet crashed into a scrubland area near the runway, shortly after the take-off , during what passengers have described as strong winds, hail, and rain . All 103 passengers and the crew survived the crash by evacuating the plane before it caught fire.

At least 65 passengers aboard the Aeromexico Flight 2341 were US citizens , including several residents from the Chicago area.

“All the people on this flight have the right to know exactly what caused the plane to crash . A plane just doesn’t drop from the sky because it’s raining hard,” said Corboy & Demetrio co-founder Thomas A. Demetrio.

Corboy & Demetrio

said it has filed six separate lawsuits on behalf of 11 passengers with the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois.

Francis Patrick Murphy,

another partner at the firm , said weather , to some extent, is always a factor in flight operations.

“However, safe flight operations depend on how the airline and its pilots monitor, respond to and correct for severe weather conditions, both in the pre-flight and inter-flight decision-making process, in order to avoid a mishap,” Murphy said.

On Monday, Luis Gerardo Fonseca , the director of Mexico’s civil aviation agency, said that the causes of the crash were still being investigated .

The first officer and the two flight attendants have already given their declarations as part of the investigation, he said. Investigators are waiting to interview the captain , who is still in hospital , Fonseca said.

Aeromexico

did not return requests for comment.

An Aeroméxico plane crashed in Durango

gm