When ill-fated Miami Air International arrived at Naval Air Station Jacksonville's Runway 10 from Cuba in May, the airplane was too high, too fast and to the right of the center line. Compounding the problem was an active thunderstorm that flight crew should have avoided or waited out, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.
Upon landing, the Flight 293 crew was unable to appreciably slow the plane or come to a stop before the end of the runway — a shortened span the crew picked at the last moment — due to excessive speed, tail wind and the lack of working thrust reversers, officials have said. The plane crashed through the rock wall and landed in the St. Johns River.
The lawsuit is seeking $156,000 for medical expenses, inconvenience and loss of earnings for passenger Gary Moss. This is the first lawsuit against Miami Air International filed in Florida Middle District Court which covers Jacksonville. No lawsuits regarding the crash have been filed in the Florida Southern District, which covers Miami where the airline is based.
Moss, of Jacksonville, could not be reached for comment. Galen D. Bauer of the Jacksonville law firm Spohrer Dodd did not respond to an email asking for information regarding injuries so it is unclear if Moss was one of the 22 people transported to area hospitals. Moss is seeking a jury trial. All 136 passengers and seven crew members survived the crash.
At the time of the May 3 crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said the investigation could take 18 months to complete. The 18-year-old Boeing 737-800 was purchased new by Miami Air International. The airline makes weekly flights from Guantanamo Bay Cuba to NAS Jacksonville.
The flight had been troubled from the start on May 3. According to the lawsuit as well as Time-Union reporting, the flight departed Cuba four hours late because of mechanical problems and the air conditioning was not working.
The lawsuit says the plane touched down with an air speed of 200 mph, which is 25 mph faster than appropriate. After the plane hurdled into the river, the passengers lined its wings in the pounding rain and lightning before boarding life rafts.
Eileen Kelley: (904) 359-4104
———
©2019 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
