A Miami-Dade federal jury determined Tuesday that two other companies share responsibility for the 1995 crash of an American Airlines jet that killed all except four of 163 people aboard when it flew into the side of a Colombian mountain.
While the two American pilots were 75 percent responsible for leading the jetliner off course that December night, the jury found, a quarter of the blame -- and the price tag -belongs to two companies that developed and sold the on-board flight computers.
"We've always acknowledged the crew of the flight made some mistakes," said American Airlines spokeswoman Martha Pantin, who reiterated her company's contention that the onboard computers contributed to the confusion. "We feel vindicated by the jury's verdict."
So far American's insurance carriers have paid out some $270 million in damages to the families of the victims, with four cases still in litigation. American filed suit in U.S. District Court in Miami to recover some of the damages.
Now responsible for 17 percent is Jeppeson Sanderson of Englewood, Colo., which developed and made the computer database used for navigation on the plane. The jury decided that Honeywell Air Transport Systems, of Phoenix, which implemented the database in its flight computers, is responsible for 8 percent.
"We still maintain it was pilot error," said Jim Veihdeffer, spokesman for Honeywell, a company with net income last year of $1.5 billion. If the verdict holds up on appeal, its share of the damages would be $21.6 million.
Jeppeson Sanderson spokeswoman Diane Murphy said her company disagreed with several decisions made during trial by District Judge Ursula Ungaro-Benages and "will be appealing."
Murphy said Jeppeson is gratified the "jury confirmed that American Airlines bore the majority of the responsibility for the accident."
If the jury verdict stands, Jeppeson Sanderson, a private company with $64 million in profits last year, will be responsible for $45.9 million in damages.
American Airlines, whose parent company, AMR Corp., netted $985 million in profits last year would remain responsible for $202 million of the damages already paid to families.
Appeals and legal battles over damages could continue for years.
Crash investigators concluded that the Boeing 757's pilots entered the wrong codes on the plane's flight computer, which caused the plane to automatically steer away from its landing strip at Cali, Colombia, and into the side of, a mountain.
Jurors heard nine weeks of testimony about Morse code computer identifiers, alleged database problems and corn' puter defects American attorney George Manfredi argued contributed to confusion in the cockpit that night.
Attorneys for Honeywell and Jeppeson argued American flights had touched down safely in Cali 1,900 times since 1990, and the captain on board that night had done so 13 other times.
They argued that the flight crew failed to follow basic flight rules about verification and double-checking.
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