Final Settlements Reached in Final China Airlines Crash

Kreindler attorneys recently settled the last of its 35 cases arising from the May 2002 crash of China Airlines Flight 611 off the coast of Taiwan. The Boeing 747 crashed after an in-flight break-up. New York partner Brian Alexander and Los Angeles partner Stuart Fraenkel teamed with counsel Frank Fleming to successfully resolve all of the firm’s cases, including the largest recovery for any case on the aircraft.

The lawsuit brought by Kreindler & Kreindler demonstrated that both Boeing and China Airlines had improperly repaired the tail section of the 747’s fuselage after a tail strike 20 years prior. The Kreindler investigation into the crash raised important aviation safety issues with far-reaching implications. Discovery uncovered countless aircraft manufacturer-sponsored studies that revealed growing concern over the aging commercial aircraft fleet and the increased risk of structural fatigue, which could, and in the case of China Air Flight 611, did lead to catastrophic consequences.

Kreindler & Kreindler, as a firm, has been at the forefront in exposing and publicizing safety issues arising from the aging aircraft fleet around the world. Our in-house investigator, Christine Negroni (a former aviation reporter for CNN and the author of Deadly Departure: Why the Experts Failed to Prevent the TWA Flight 800 Disaster and How It Could Happen Again), was a member of the FAA’s Aging Transport Systems Rulemaking Advisory Committee. She represented the National Air Disaster Alliance, the largest grassroots aviation safety group in the country, comprised of aviation experts and professionals, as well as families who have lost loved ones in aviation disasters.