JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The legal tensions between passengers on a Boeing 737 that crashed into the St. Johns River last spring and Miami Air International are heating up.
On Thursday, lawyers for one of the passengers and the airline were in court, where a federal judge chastised both sides for not communicating better.
Neither side appears to be willing to compromise much in the case, and the lawyers for passenger Gary Moss said Miami Air, the charter company whose Boeing 737 skidded over the runway at NAS Jacksonville and into the St. Johns River, is pointing fingers at God as the reason for this crash.
Lawyers for both sides were scolded by Federal Judge Joel Toomey for not communicating and hashing out a lot of issues in the courtroom. Lawyers for Moss said Miami Air International is in the process of fingerpointing.
“They have turned around now and blamed the passengers which is outrageous and in their response in federal court, Miami Air said this is God’s fault, that this was an act of God that this accident occurred,” said Moss’s attorney Galen Bauer. “Miami Air flew this 737 into an active thunderstorm over the runway at NAS Jacksonville too high on approach and too fast on approach.”
The airline says it can’t get all the answers about what caused the crash due to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) restrictions. Lawyers also pointed to Moss’s lawyers for filing a lawsuit 27 days after the crash while Miami Air was still gathering facts.
For now, it appears both sides are still struggling to work with each other.
“It’s been contentious so far, I hope it doesn’t stay that way,” Bauer said. “You know in any legal situation we try to negotiate with the other side. In other cases, it just doesn’t happen."
And this is just the beginning for Miami Air International legally. The airline is fighting at least five other lawsuits in state court.
The lawsuits accuse Miami Air of failing to properly maintain the plane and claim the pilot was not qualified and knowledgeable on the safe operation of the aircraft.
Bauer said he also has 16 other clients who were on the plane and they will likely be filing lawsuits in the future.
The flight was carrying 136 passengers, seven crew members and at least four pets from the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Jacksonville naval station. All survived, but most were hospitalized at least overnight for injuries.
Miami Air lawyers left court without making any comment. News4Jax reached out to the corporate offices for comment but have yet to hear back.