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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Air Canada suit alleges coverup
TORONTO -- Passengers who went through a terrifying ordeal when a groggy co-pilot on a transatlantic flight mistakenly sent a plane plunging towards the ocean launched a class-action suit against Air Canada on Monday.
The statement of claim obtained by The Canadian Press shows the passengers are looking for $20 million in general and punitive damages.
At the heart of the punitive-damages claim is what the suit alleges was a coverup by Air Canada, which blamed turbulence for the incident that left 16 people with bruises and cuts on the Toronto-to-Zurich overnight flight in January last year.
The suit filed with Ontario Superior Court also accuses Air Canada of various failures in regard to identifying and dealing with tired crew.
It was only late last month a Transportation Safety Board report revealed exactly what had happened aboard the Boeing 767, which was halfway across the Atlantic at the time.
According to the report, the groggy co-pilot had just awakened from a nap and was "confused and disoriented" when he at first mistook the planet Venus for an approaching aircraft.
When he did spot an oncoming plane about 300 metres below, he actually thought it was descending straight at them. To avoid what he thought was an imminent crash, the co-pilot overrode the autopilot by forcefully pressing on the control column.
In the ensuing 46 seconds, the plane dived 120 metres then lurched 240 metres back upward before stabilizing as the captain, who was awake and in place while the co-pilot napped, regained control.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 8, 2012 A8
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