Previously I reported Anna Haney’s wrongful death suit against Boeing, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney. Her suit arises from the death of her husband, Air Force Captain Jeffrey Haney, which resulted from a November 2010 crash of his F-22 Raptor fighter jet.
Multiple media sources report that Mrs. Haney and the Defendants have agreed to a confidential settlement of the lawsuit. The court will most likely approve the settlement, without disclosing its terms to the public.
The Defendants to the suit described the F-22 as the “Air Force’s premier air to air combat and attack aircraft”. They claimed the accident occurred when the aircraft “hit the ground at supersonic speed after an unsuccessful dive recovery attempt”.
Mrs. Haney’s suit papers claimed that The Air Force Accident Investigation Board Report on the crash concluded that the Onboard Oxygen Generating System (“OBOGS”) of the aircraft, allegedly designed and manufactured by Honeywell and integrated into the aircraft by Boeing, stopped providing him with breathable oxygen.
Both Mrs. Haney and the Defendants were well represented by competent and well financed attorneys. The suit was brought as a conventional product liability action, but the sensitivity of the the technology, and the desire to keep the matter out of the courtroom, likely moved the settlement process along. Clearly, it was a case that needed to be settled. There was nothing to have been gained from a trial of the case. Hopefully Mrs. Haney will now have sufficient financial resources to move ahead with her life. And the Defendants can (and I’m sure will) concentrate their resources on remedying whatever factors led to the incident.
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