Comair crash creates lawsuit parade

News item from the Louisville Courier-Journal: "The co-pilot of Comair Flight 5191 -- the lone survivor of last year's crash -- is suing the company that designed the runway lighting at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington."

According to the story by James Carroll, James Polehinke's attorneys claim that Avcon Inc.'s negligence caused the accident.

This is not the place to rehash all that's known about the causes of the crash, but it's hard for a neutral observer to conclude anything other than that the primary causes were Polehinke and Capt. Jeffrey Clay taking off from the wrong runway after failing to follow cockpit procedures and process rather-obvious information available to them.

That doesn't deny secondary blame for others involved. It's a long list, which includes Comair, Avcon, Blue Grass Airport and the FAA. The airport and the FAA seem lawsuit-proof, so the lawyers must hunt for other deep pockets. Most air crashes are like that -- a cascade of events that lead to tragedy and lawsuits.

On one level, you can sympathize with Polehinke's pain and suffering and the potential financial hardship he faces through a long, difficult recovery. But it smacks of blame-shifting that adds to the pain of the other victims for someone who was the lone survivor and major cause of a tragedy to join the lawsuit parade.

After all, if a stoplight is broken at an intersection, you're expected to use extra caution and still avoid an accident, not make flippant comments to your seatmate and keep moving.

UPDATE: Additional lawsuits were filed last Friday by Polehinke and by Amy Clay, widow of Comair Capt. Jeffrey Clay. Click here for the story.