A preliminary hearing was held Tuesday in State Supreme Court Tuesday regarding legal claims being made by the family who lived in the home destroyed when Flight 3407 crashed into it in February 2009.
The crash, blamed on pilot error, took the life of 61-year-old Douglas Wielinski, in addition to the 49 people on the plane. Wielinksi died when the plane crashed into his home. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for his wrongful death. Other lawsuits seek damages for surviving family members, including his wife Karen and daughters Jill Hohl and Kimberly Lipiarz.
Continental Airlines seeks to be excused from any responsibility for the crash. Colgan Air is seeking to dismiss a claim for Wielinski's pain and suffering before his death in his home and for dismissal of the claim that his wife Karen and daughter Jill Hohl suffered from pre-impact terror.
Justice Frederick Marshall is reserving decision on those requests. The trial, the last legal action pending from the Flight 3407 lawsuits, is scheduled to begin August 11.
All other legal cases involving the crash have been settled.
