Qantas crew finally settle lawsuit over computer glitch that caused plane to nosedive
Almost a decade later and the last of the lawsuits between Qantas flight 72’s crew and two US manufacturers have finally been settled.
The flight, carrying 303 passengers, was en route from Singapore to Perth on October 7, 2008, when a computer malfunction caused the plane to nosedive twice.
99 passengers and eight crew had minor injuries and eleven passengers and one flight attendant suffered severe injuries from fractures to lacerations.
The flight’s captain, Kevin Sullivan was left with post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) Sullivan, along with second officer Ross Hales and customer service manager Lisa Polizzi reached settlement in their personal injury claim against European planemaker Airbus and aerospace company Northrop Grumman last month, only a few days before the case was due to go to hearing in Chicago.
The aviation lawyer who advised Sullivan and Polizzi, Michael Hyland told the SMH that while the end of legal action was expected to bring some closure for the crew members, Sullivan was likely to still suffer from the incident.
“The fact that he has completed his litigation gives him some degree of closure but he is still going to be dogged by that injury for the rest of his life,” he said.
Sullivan left Qantas in 2016 after almost 30 years of service.
The computer glitch that caused the nose dives was reported to have been caused by one of the A330’s three air-data units sending incorrect information to other systems, which resulted in the flight control computer to command the aircraft to nosedive twice off the West Australian coast.
The passengers injured in the incident have all previously settled compensation claims.
Featured image source: Readers Digest
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