Japan Airlines faces $7m lawsuit

2003-03-12 10:32

Deborah Haynes

Tokya - Asia's largest carrier, Japan Airlines, is facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in connection with allegations that it broke aviation safety rules by allowing pilots to fly while sick.

The flagship Japanese carrier vehemently denies the allegations, but airline captain Jack Crawford and flight engineer Martin Ventress claim a co-pilot was permitted to fly two planes packed with hundreds of passengers despite losing consciousness at the controls several times.

The co-pilot, Jeff Bicknell, who allegedly was carried out of the cockpit twice during one JAL flight, was diagnosed with a brain tumour a few days after landing the second aircraft, which belonged to a JAL subsidiary, JALways.

"It is time to let the world know what is going on," said Crawford, 60, who worked with Ventress for a Hawaii-based firm that contracts crews to airlines.

The pair, both United States citizens, filed the lawsuit against JAL, JALways and their employer, Hawaii Aviation Contract Services in California, last December.

In the suit, Crawford and Ventress also claim they were harassed by their employers and unfairly lost their jobs after reporting the supposed safety breaches, which they say happened under the command of Captain Kazuo Hanami, a JALways vice-president and pilot.

'Jeopardised lives of passengers'

Crawford and Ventress are seeking a total of about $7m (about R55m) in damages for alleged wrongful dismissal, emotional distress and legal costs.

"My client ... observed one Jeff Bicknell exhibiting obvious extreme symptoms that incapacitated him to fly a plane," said Martin Cervantes, the pair's lawyer.

"Captain Hanami, who is a safety officer, would not allow him to be moved so that someone else could take over the controls and, in doing that, he not only jeopardised the lives of my clients, but the lives of those nearly 300 people who were on the plane," he said.

Hanami, contacted by telephone at a hotel in Honolulu, declined to comment.

According to JAL rules, in an emergency when one of the crew falls sick, the captain must land his plane at the nearest available airport or replace the individual with someone else, said Geoffrey Tudor of JAL and JALways.

"In this case it was not recognised that there was an emergency," he said.

JAL and JALways, while acknowledging the lawsuit, said the case was baseless.

"The plaintiffs are attempting to try this case in the media in an effort to manipulate the public's fear of flying and damage JAL's reputation," said Tudor.

Crawford and Ventress allege that Bicknell, who was training to become a captain under Hanami's instruction, had trouble landing the flight from Bangkok to Osaka on June 17, 2001, because he was sick.

"When (after one failed attempt) he slammed the plane on to the ground, overhead doors popped open and people screamed," said Ventress, 49.

The second incident, seen by Ventress, occurred on June 20 on a JALways flight from Honolulu to Hiroshima and Osaka.

Bicknell, who was again piloting the plane under Hanami's guidance, looked sick and fell asleep during the first leg to Hiroshima three times, according to Ventress.

After another poor landing by Bicknell, Ventress asked Hanami to take over the controls for the short hop to Osaka, but the captain allegedly refused and allowed Bicknell to continue.

Now, he's too sick to fly

In Osaka, Bicknell was admitted to the airport hospital where he was told he was too sick to treat.

Flown back to Hawaii, the co-pilot was diagnosed with a brain tumour and is now totally incapacitated, Ventress and Crawford said.

The pair said what they witnessed prompted them to file a safety report to JAL, which was rejected.

Crawford and Ventress then sent further reports to the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau and the US Federal Aviation Bureau.

The JCAB rejected their allegations and the pair decided to sue, alleging JAL set out to terminate their contracts.

Crawford said JAL gave him a string of flying tests which, despite an unblemished record of 40 years, he failed.

Ventress said he was asked to undergo physical and psychological examinations in the United States, which he passed. JAL then required him to be assessed by two Japanese psychiatrists in Tokyo who declared him medically unfit to fly, he said.

- AFP