American Airlines Demands Gynecological Records of Victim's Teenage Daughter
. By LAS Staff Writer
New York, NYAmerican Airlines insists that it needs to examine all gynecological records of the daughter of a woman killed on American Airlines Flight 587 who was 16 years-old at the time of her mother's death. They are seeking these records from the time the girl was 11 all the way through her present age of 21 and continuing until trial. "Even Airbus could not figure out why these records were needed, but American Airlines insisted," said Paul Hedlund the Los Angeles attorney for the family.
American Airlines is also seeking all personal psychological counseling records from five years before the crash to the present and continuing until trial, of the girl as well as the other surviving kin of Kathy Williams, who was killed in the November 12, 2001 American Airlines crash in Belle Harbor, New York. The airline wants all counseling records of Kathy Williams' daughter, who is now a college student in Los Angeles, and her husband, Keith Williams of Sunnyvale, California. They also want all psychological, medical and gynecological records of the decedent herself, also from 5 years prior to the crash and up to the time of her death.
"Imagine what this does to the counseling process, you need to bring a lawyer with you." said Paul Hedlund who further asks "are American Airlines grief counselors actually spies for American who will testify at trial against the families?"
The girl and her family have vowed to fight this blatant assault on their and their decedent's privacy. A hearing on this matter has been scheduled for May 2, 2007 at 12:00 noon before Judge Sweet in the U.S. District Court, at 500 Pearl Street, NY, NY, Courtroom 18C.
Nearly 260 death cases have settled to date with only six passenger cases left unsettled.
The Williams family lived in Los Altos, California at the time of the crash. They hired the Baum Hedlund law firm, who filed their case on August 16, 2002 in U.S. District Court in New York. Baum Hedlund had 11 cases in all. The only one of Baum Hedlund's not yet resolved is the Williams case which is scheduled to go to trial in February 2008.
About Kathy Williams
Kathy Williams, 54, was an international banker/financier at the time of her death. She was fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English and regularly traveled abroad, mostly to Central and South America. She opened the Bank of America in Honduras. She worked in executive and principal positions until she became an independent financial consultant in 1998.
About the Crash
American Airlines Airbus A300-600 Flight 587 left JFK airport for the Dominican Republic on November 12, 2001 carrying 251 passengers and nine crew members, when the tail of the plane broke off into Jamaica Bay about five minutes after take off. The plane broke into pieces and finally crashed on the Rockaway Peninsula about 3,000 feet from where the tail was found. Five people on the ground were also killed.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was the in-flight separation of the vertical stabilizer as a result of the loads beyond ultimate design that were created by the first officer's unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs. Contributing to these rudder pedal inputs were characteristics of the A300-600 rudder system design and elements of the American Airlines Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program.
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