Hearings spark new outrage from victims of deadly UPS plane crash
Two days of NTSB hearings in Washington, D.C., have sparked new emotion and outrage over the deadly UPS plane crash that killed 15 people on Nov. 4.
Sean Garber, CEO of Grade A Auto, described the hearings as difficult but revealing.
"Their speculation of profit over people was proved in this hearing," Garber said.
Garber recounted a moment during his trip to the hearings when someone approached him and questioned whether he felt safe boarding a plane after learning how aviation companies collaborate.
"So there's a real risk to the public safety here," he said.
Garber, whose business was ground zero for the crash, learned during the hearings that UPS had discovered three other pylon fractures in its fleet of MD-11 aircraft since the incident.
"So for us to sit there, it was hard to hear. It was hard to be in that room. It's hard to see the families, other families that were impacted by it," Garber said.
The hearings focused on transparency, communication, and missed warning signs involving the FAA, Boeing, and UPS.
On the second day, the FAA acknowledged that the spherical bearing tied to damage in the lugs of the engine that fell off the plane's wing should be considered a principal structural element, requiring regular inspection.
Garber questioned the decisions made by the parties involved.
"Why did they not do certain things that would have ensured the safety of their employees and of the people on the ground? They chose not to make those decisions at the risk of causing harm. And that's exactly what happened," he said.
Garber is part of several lawsuits filed against the parties involved, with Whiteford Law and Peterson Law representing them.
"We must hold them accountable, accountable punitively to discourage this type of conduct from happening again. Without that kind of accountability, there is a risk that these kinds of things will happen again," Masten Childers III, with Whiteford Law, said.
