A Civil Action
Attorneys for widows of the crash victims look to the courts. While Air Force officials prepare a tribute for the King-56 crash victims this week, attorneys representing several of the widows are preparing to file a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court. Attorneys at the Portland firm Pozzi Wilson Atchison aren't saying much about their suit, except to acknowledge that they are on the verge of filing it, perhaps this week. The suit is expected to charge Lockheed, the C-130's manufacturer, and Allison Engine, the maker of the plane's engines, with negligence and product liability. The suit might also charge manufacturers of other components in the plane's electrical, propeller and fuel control systems. The amount of money sought by suit--on behalf of Gayle Schott, Sue McAuley, Laura Wellnitz, and the children of flight engineer Bob Roberts--is unknown. The lawyers initially blamed the plane's mysterious four-engine failure--attributed by the Air Force to "fuel starvation"--on the synchrophaser, an electronic device that controls the four propellers' timing. According to Air Force internal reports, the synchrophaser has caused dozens of documented four-engine power losses, but no known crashes. The lawyers have broadened their focus now to other components in the electrical, propeller and fuel
systems. One theory they're pursuing is that a freakish voltage drop in the electrical system causes the plane's temperature datum system to think the engine is running hot. The temperature datum system then reduces fuel flow to the engines in an effort to cool them. In the case of King-56, the lawyers and their technical experts suspect that faulty equipment caused a disastrous reduction in fuel flow. Air Force officials have acknowledged the possibility that the temperature datum amplifier could have caused the crash, but say it is very unlikely. --BY |
