Page 3 - AAA NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 Online Magazine

AERIAL VIEw
CONtENtS

CREDITS EDITOR’S NOTE

EDItOR
JEREMY TORR
jeremy.torr@gbp.com.sg
ASSOCIAtE EDItOR
JOSEPHInE PAnG
josephine.pang@gbp.com.sg RESPONSIBLE BEhAVIOuR
ExECutIVE PuBLIShER & CEO A short while ago, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein was tasked with looking at
vITTORIO ROSSI PRUDEnTE a claim related to the 9/11 hijackings and consequent destruction of the World
vittorio.prudente@gbp.com.sg
Trade Center in new York. Larry Silverstein, who held the lease for the WTC at the
COO & MARkEtING DIRECtOR, ASIA time of the incident, has previously had a negligence claim against United Airlines
SIvA SACHI
siva.sachi@gbp.com.sg (whose Flight 175 smashed into one tower) rejected, but has gone for a repeat. This
time he has filed a claim against United Continental Holdings (UCH) for damages
ARt DIRECtOR
ARTHUR CHAn caused by the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the World
arthur.chan@gbp.com.sg Trade Center’s north tower on 9/11. But the claim is not about poor flight security
wEB DIRECtOR or responsibility for the plane itself – instead he is claiming that UCH failed to give
ELMER vALEnCIA proper security screening at Portland International Airport. That is where hijackers
elmer.valencia@gbp.com.sg
Mohammed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari initially entered the air transport system
CIRCuLAtION MANAGER on a Colgan Air flight before switching to the doomed American Airlines Flight 11.
KHAIRUL nAEM
khairul.naem@gbp.com.sg
Silverstein’s World Trade Center Properties (WTCP) has made a US$8.4 billion
ADVERtISING REPRESENtAtIVES
EuROPE, mIDDLE EAST, SOuTh AfRICA & claim for damages relating to Flight 11, and is claiming that UCH security workers
SOuTh AmERICA at Portland were guilty of not screening passengers diligently enough, allowing the
COnTACT: vITTORIO ROSSI PRUDEnTE
TEL: +39 049 723 548 FAx: +39 049 856 0792 MOB: two hijackers to simply transfer to Flight 11 at Boston without being intercepted.
+39 335 611 9295 Although this is a key reason for the terrorists’ ability to access the final leg of their
EMAIL: vittorio.prudente@gbp.com.sg
plan, it raises some awkward questions about aviation security. For instance, if a
ASEAN, PEOPLE’S REPuBLIC Of ChINA, TAIwAN, cargo handler fails to intercept a suspect parcel, is the company they work for being
hONg kONg & AuSTRALASIA
COnTACT: SIvA SACHI negligent and endangering the whole aircraft? If a doctor fails to mention low-risk
TEL: +603 778 12903/2909 FAx: +603 778 12915 side effects to a pilot given new medication, are they liable for the potential injuries
MOB: +601 2905 6825
EMAIL: siva.sachi@gbp.com.sg to passengers in the case of a hard landing?
uSA & CANADA
COnTACT: JOSH MAYER The problem Judge Hellerstein has to address in this case is not so much the
TEL : +1 972 816-6745 FAx : +1 972 767 4442 accountability, but the extent of accountability. There is no doubt that if security at
EMAIL : jm@mayeradvertising.com
Portland had picked up the two terrorists, Flight 11 would not have been used as
SwITzERLAND a flying bomb. But equally, there is no doubt that if different precautions had been
COnTACT: ROBERT ROTTMEIER
TEL : +41 216 174 412 FAx : +41 216 170 921 taken on the flight itself, that might not have happened either. If Judge Hellerstein
MOB : +41 792 104 466 does rule in favour of WTCP, it could start an almost uncontrollable set of reactions
EMAIL : robertrottmeier@bluewin.ch
with totally unaware operators being dragged into a nightmare scenario not of their
ISRAEL own making. As Silverstein has already collected an insurance payout relating to
COnTACT: TAMIR ESHEL
TEL : + 972 544 508 028 / +972 989 117 92 the destruction of the World Trade Center towers, it is hard to see why his company
FAx : +972 989 199 65 thinks this is a justifiable claim. One thing is for sure, if approved it will increase
EMAIL : eshel_tamir@yahoo.com
insurance costs, slow service provision and complicate many existing processes. Is
that what the industry needs right now?

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