Kreindler Represents Largest Group of Families of TWA Flight 800 Passengers

One of Kreindler’s founders, Lee Kreindler (d. 2003), was one of the first to theorize that the explosion causing the Boeing 747 TWA Flight 800 to crash was caused by a mechanical problem. At the time, agencies such as the NTSB and FBI were focused on the belief that a bomb or missile was the cause of the crash. But based on our own intensive hands-on investigation, including the examination of several Boeing 747 aircraft in the California desert, Kreindler quickly determined that the likely cause of the disaster was a mechanical malfunction leading to an explosion in the center fuel cell. Armed with this knowledge, The firm filed its first suit in October 1996 against TWA and Boeing.

Lee Kreindler argued that vital safety checks were not enforced.

Lee Kreindler was appointed to chair the Plaintiffs’ Committee charged with prosecuting the action, and the firm, along with other members of the committee, successfully prosecuted the action. The action gave rise to a notable ruling when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals found that the plane crash had not occurred on the “high seas” as that term is defined in the law and that therefore the restrictive Death on the High Seas Act did not limit plaintiffs’ damages. TWA Flight 800 ultimately caused Congress to modify the Death on the High Seas Act to provide for non-economic damages.

Photo Credit: TWA Boeing 747 plane, Dean Morley