The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York on behalf of former boxing champion Jake LaMotta, whose son, Joseph, was among the 229 people killed in the Sept. 2 crash in the Atlantic off Nova Scotia.
The suit claims the MD-11 aircraft had wiring problems that should have been corrected. The suit named Swissair; its partner, Delta Airlines; McDonnell Douglas, which manufactured the aircraft, and Boeing Co., which now owns McDonnell Douglas.
The suit is likely to be followed by many others as lawyers try to hold the airlines and aerospace companies liable for the as-yet-unexplained crash that
happened 16 minutes after the pilots reported smoke in the cockpit. The trouble started about an hour into a New York-to-Geneva flight.
The litigation contrasted sharply with the mood in Indian Harbor, Nova Scotia, where the largest of a series of memorial services was held at an elementary school sports field.
There was little expectation of a breakthrough in the negotiations, which have been frozen for 18 months. On the eve of Ross' arrival, the Israelis actively played down his chances for success, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was quoted in Israeli newspapers as branding Ross "an Israeli collaborator."
09-10-98
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