Financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 of its 1000 employees when a plane hit the World Trade Center in the September 11 terrorist attacks, destroying the company’s offices. The firm filed a lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages from American Airlines, on the grounds the airline was negligent by failing to detect the hijackers, thereby allowing them to board and hijack the aircraft.  Earlier this month, Cantor Fitzgerald and American Airlines reached a settlement for $135 million, marking the closure of the last airplane-focused case involving 9/11 claims of wrongful death and personal injuries.

Had the case not settled, it was heading for a trial soon after the first of the year at which serious questions were likely to laid open regarding, for example, how the terrorists got through security, how to best thwart the efforts of terrorists, and ultimately an investigation into the degree to which personal liberties can and should be sacrificed in the name of travelers’ security.

The increased security measures put in place after the 9/11 attacks were a necessary reaction to such an enormous loss of innocent lives, according to Herndon airport injury lawyer Doug Landau.  Just as citizens should expect safe roads to drive on, buildings to live in, and food to put on our tables, we are also entitled to expect safe aircraft to board.

A trial would have torn open the emotional wounds left behind for family, friends and colleagues of those lost on that horrible day.  A settlement in the case avoids that, yet still provides some restitution for the families of the innocent victims. All of the clients of the Herndon aircraft injury law firm Abrams Landau received every bit of the compensation allowed by law.  While Doug Landau declined to settle the workers compensation claims of airline employees and individuals traveling for their employers, those cases, in the case of the airline pilots, flight attendants and Pentagon construction workers, the full 500 weeks of compensation benefits were paid out to the Abrams Landau clients. If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident involving an aircraft  or at an airport, and there are questions as to what laws apply, email or call Abrams Landau, Ltd. at once (703-796-9555).