Boeing Sued By Dana Crash Victim’s Husband, Daughter in US

Boeing, maker of the MD-83 airliner that crashed in Nigeria on June 3, was sued in the U.S. by the husband and daughter of one of the 153 people aboard the jet who died.

David Chukwunonso Allison of Lagos filed the lawsuit yesterday on behalf of his 1-year-old daughter Naomi Isioma Allison in federal court in Chicago. Boeing, jet-engine maker United Technologies Corp and units of the companies were named as defendants.

The girl’s mother, Joy Chiedozie Allison, was on Dana Airlines Ltd. flight 992 from Abuja, Nigeria, which crashed into a two-story building as it approached the Lagos airport. While the cause of the crash is under investigation, Nigeria’s government has indefinitely suspended Dana’s license.

“By virtue of her untimely death, plaintiff is lawfully entitled to such damages as are fair and just for the death and loss thus occasioned,” including funeral expenses and the value of her companionship, according to the 57-page complaint.

The Allisons allege the crash was caused by defects in the design or manufacture of the jet or its engines, or pilot negligence.

John Dern, a spokesman for Chicago-based Boeing, declined to comment on the allegations.

“We are deeply saddened by the lives lost in the recent Dana Airlines incident,” Bryan Kidder, a spokesman for United Technologies’ Pratt & Whitney Canada unit, said in an e-mailed statement. “Pratt & Whitney is cooperating fully with investigating authorities and we are unable to offer any further comment as the investigation is ongoing.”

United Technologies is based in Hartford, Connecticut.