Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

United States District Court Has Established Schedule For Pre-Trial Proceedings In Gol Airlines Disaster Lawsuit

New York, NY -- The American law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced that United States District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan today conducted an initial conference in the Gol Airlines disaster litigation.

Appearing on behalf of families of over twenty victims were Lieff Cabraser attorneys Robert L. Lieff, Steven E. Fineman, Lexi J. Hazam and Nicholas Diamand. Counsel for defendants ExcelAire Service, Inc. ("ExcelAire") and Honeywell International Inc. ("Honeywell") were also present.

At the hearing, Judge Cogan set a prompt schedule for resolution of the important issue of forum non conveniens, as requested by plaintiffs. The Court required defendants to file their forum non conveniens motion by January 22, 2007, and permitted plaintiffs to proceed immediately with discovery on the issue. Defendants had requested that no discovery occur until the forum non conveniens motion was resolved.

"We are grateful the Court permitted the families of the Gol Airlines tragedy to proceed with their lawsuit without delay," stated attorney Lexi J. Hazam. "We have assembled a top notch, global team of attorneys and aviation experts to prosecute the case, and will vigorously contest any efforts by ExcelAire and Honeywell to dismiss the action."

Brazilian attorney Leonardo Amarante, whose law firm is working in partnership with Lieff Cabraser, commented, "Proceeding with the lawsuit in an American court ensures that the families will have their voices heard in the United States as to why ExcelAire and Honeywell bear responsibility for the tragedy and must be held accountable."

While Plaintiffs' choice of where to file suit is generally accepted by United States courts, a forum non conveniens motion filed by the defendants gives the Court the discretion to dismiss the claims of non-United States plaintiffs if the defendants are able to demonstrate that litigation of plaintiffs’ claims in the U.S. would result in excessive oppression to the defendants and outweigh plaintiffs’ convenience. If the motion is decided in plaintiffs’ favor, the case will proceed in United States District Court.

"Discovery" involves the exchange of information between parties. As part of plaintiffs’ discovery, plaintiffs seek to obtain documents and other information from the defendants to strengthen the case against the defendants on subjects on which the Court has allowed discovery.

One hundred and forty eight passengers and six crew members died on September 29, 2006, when Gol Airlines Flight 1907 plunged nose-first into the Amazon rainforest after colliding with an Embraer Legacy aircraft operated by ExcelAire.

The complaint charges that the pilots of the ExcelAire jet were flying at an incorrect altitude at the time of the collision, failed to operate the jet’s transponder and radio equipment properly, and failed to maintain communication with Brazilian air traffic control in violation of international civil aviation standards. If the pilots of the ExcelAire aircraft had followed these standards, the collision would not have occurred.

At the time of the collision, the ExcelAire aircraft’s transponder manufactured by Honeywell was not functioning. A transponder transmits a plane’s altitude and operates its automatic anti-collision system. Honeywell shares responsibility for the tragedy, the complaint alleges, because it defectively designed the transponder on the ExcelAire jet, and failed to warn of dangers resulting from foreseeable uses of the transponder.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages against ExcelAire and Honeywell for their negligence.

About Lieff Cabraser

Lieff Cabraser has taken a leading role in representing the families of the victims of the passengers of the Gol Airlines accident. Lieff Cabraser is among the largest law firms in the United States that represents exclusively plaintiffs, and has been recognized by the prestigious National Law Journal for the last four consecutive years as one of the top plaintiffs’ law firms in America.

In addition to the Gol Airlines accident, Lieff Cabraser currently represents aviation accident victims in connection with the crash of a Helios plane in Greece in August, 2005; the crash of a China Eastern plane in November 2004 near Bautou, China; the crash of a Flash Air plane near Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt in January, 2004; the crash of an Air Algerie plane in Tamanrasset in March 2003; the crash of a Mandala plane near Medan, Indonesia in September 2005; the crash of a West Caribbean Airways plane in Venezuela in August 2005; and the crash of a Comair Airlines jet in Lexington, Kentucky in August 2006.

Contact Information For Families

Families whose loved ones died in the Gol Airlines disaster are welcome to contact any of the following attorneys for information:

Lieff Cabraser attorney Lexi Hazam by email at lhazam@lchb.com or by phone at 001 415-956-1000, or Leonardo Amarante by email at amarante@leonardoamarante.com.br or directly at his office in Brazil:

Rua Primeiro de Marco, nº 23
5º andar
Centro - Rio de Janeiro
CEP: 20010.000
Telefax: 2507-4195

Information for families on their legal rights is available without charge or obligation and is provided in the strictest confidence.

Members of the media who wish to obtain a copy of the complaint should contact Brandan De Coteau at bdecoteau@lchb.com.

Source | Contact

Lexi Hazam email lhazam@lchb.com. Leonardo Amarante email amarante@leonardoamarante.com.br.