Emery pilot's estate sues FAA in crash

Feds negligent in oversight, family claims

By Wes Hills and Timothy R.

Dayton Daily News DAYTON |

A federal lawsuit seeking $20 million in damages was filed Wednesday on behalf of the estate of Emery Worldwide Airlines pilot Kevin Stables, who was killed in a fiery crash on Feb. 16, 2000.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Dayton by Stables' wife, Kathleen Stables, charges the Federal Aviation Administration "was negligent and failed in its oversight and enforcement of regulations, orders and directives of Emery's maintenance and loading procedures" and "certification of the elevator assembly without required redundancy" on Stables' DC-8 cargo jet. It further claims the FAA was negligent in its oversight of Tennessee Technical Services, a repair station utilized by Emery, and in its certification that Stables' aircraft was airworthy and safe.

The lawsuit was filed in the wake of the FAA denying the claims.

The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the crash, but a public hearing last May focused on maintenance issues. John Goglia, the NTSB member who chaired the hearing, has also said the investigation raised questions about maintenance oversight by both Emery and the FAA. As a result of the claimed negligence, Kathleen Stables and her children "suffered severe mental anguish and extreme emotional distress" and expect to continue to suffer this "indefinitely."

Robert G. Palmer, the Columbus attorney representing Stables, said the FAA's own inspections and reports it received from Emery detailed the airline's maintenance problems before the crash.

Elizabeth Cory, an FAA spokeswoman in Chicago, said her agency "will not have any comment on this matter until we've reviewed the complaint."

Some Emery pilots had been complaining to the FAA about safety problems before EWA 17 crashed. In its investigations before and after the crash, FAA inspectors found more than 100 safety violations, agency officials said last year.

CNF Inc., the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company that owns Emery, grounded the airline voluntarily in August 2001 after the FAA threatened to revoke its airline certificate. The company made the grounding permanent in December as part of a larger reorganization.

The NTSB held a public hearing in May. Goglia had said major issues to be examined would include contract maintenance and its oversight by both Emery and the FAA. But the hearing was recessed after two days without getting to questions about the FAA's role. In September, Goglia said the NTSB is likely to wrap up the EWA 17 investigation early next year without reconvening the hearing.