JFK Airport Runway Accident Sets Off Flurry of Lawsuits

A Kennedy airport collision between a construction truck and a Korean Air Lines Cargo plane on June 9, 2009 has resulted in a string of lawsuits, all of which are seeing action this month.

It all started when Karmall McLean, a worker for Tully Construction, parked his work truck near a Taxiway Y at the busy New York airport. He waited there for instructions for the delivery of his load of pipes. Meanwhile, the Korean Air Lines cargo plane was headed in his direction.

Reportedly, McLean was using his portable laptop as he waited. When he looked up and saw the plane approaching him, he “figured the wing was high enough and looked back down.”

Seconds later, the airplane’s engine crashed into the truck and flipped it several times. The plane was traveling at only 15 mph at the time of the crash. McLean was injured, and the airplane sustained considerable damage including the need to replace the engine cowl, nose cowl and thrust reverser.

When Port Authority police investigated, they found that the truck, which was not running its amber flashing light, was parked in “an object-free area”. The airline pilot says he couldn’t see the truck, and McLean says that the taxiway had been closed for construction and should not have been reopened. The attending lawsuits have followed.

Lawsuits surrounding the runway accident include:

• McLean filed suit against the Port Authority alleging that there was no safety plan in place and not seeing his truck and ordering it to move. This suit was dismissed because the statute of limitations had run out.
• McLean has refilled in Brooklyn Federal Court, suing the Federal Aviation Administration and Port Authority.
• Korean Air Lines has filed suit against Tully Construction, Port Authority and the security firm that was in charge of the area at the time of the accident. They requesting an undisclosed amount for the costs of repairing the plane.

Our Tennessee airplane accident attorney will provide you with updates on this case once the courts straighten this mess out.