RAIL CRASH SUITS CHALLENGE LIABILITY CLAIMS
Oct 1, 1993
The Journal of Commerce
Rail Crash Suits Challenge Liability Claims
By Rip Watson
Journal of Commerce Staff
The flurry of activity surrounding the worst crash in Amtrak's history
has moved from the Alabama bayou where the wreck occurred last week to
federal and state courts, where lawyers are positioning themselves to
determine the financial scope of, and the liability for, the crash.
Even as the legal maneuvering advanced with the filing of the first suits
this week, the National Transportation Safety Board Thursday said it planned
to interview crewmembers of a Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co. towboat
by the end of the week to hear their version of the accident that killed
47 people aboard Amtrak's Sunset Limited after the train plunged off a bridge.
Speculation has centered on the role that Warrior & Gulf's towboat,
the Mauvilla, played in the accident, though its precise involvement has
not been determined.
The company has stated the towboat and its barges were in the bayou where
the crash occurred, but has issued conflicting statements over whether
it was there on purpose or was lost. There has been much speculation that
the barges hit the bridge and weakened it just before the train roared
over the span.
The safety board also said it may complete testing on the speed-recording
device in the train's locomotives, which may shed further light on
the cause of the Sept. 22 wreck.
Warrior & Gulf has filed a petition in U.S. District Court in Mobile
to limit its liability in the accident to $ 432,000, using a 142-year-old
limitation-of-liability statute that could hold its loss to the approximate
value of the towboat and its cargo.
A survivor of the accident, Carolyn Susan Frank, an Australian, moved
Wednesday to challenge that liability lid.
According to maritime lawyers, it has been breached before in cases where
the shipowner fails to show lack of knowledge of any defect in the ship,
or if the crew is wilfully negligent.
To date, the crew of the Mauvilla has declined to be questioned, but Ted
Lopatkiewicz, a spokesman for the safety board, said it and local law
enforcement agencies were hoping to interview crewmembers.
Gregory Breedlove, a Mobile, Ala., attorney who represents Ms. Frank,
said the challenge filed against Warrior & Gulf's liability limit
assertion opened the door for attorneys to seek depositions, tapes and
other material that could establish fault in the accident.
Suits also were filed by an attorney representing John Wilson, 62, and
Ronald Quaintance, 44, two train crewmembers who perished in the crash.
CSX Transportation Inc., the railroad whose line the Amtrak train was
using; Warrior & Gulf, and Andrew Stabler, pilot of the towboat, were
named as defendants, court officials said.
Clifford Black, an Amtrak spokesman, said Thursday the railroad intended
to seek damages from Warrior & Gulf if the barge company was found
to be responsible for the accident, but he stressed it was premature to
say that would be done until responsibility for the accident is established.
Amtrak equipment lost in the crash has an estimated replacement value
of $ 10 million.
Warrior & Gulf has $ 3 million worth of liability insurance from the
Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association Ltd., a shipowner-owned protection
and indemnity club based in London.
Steamship is a part of the International Group of Property and Indemnity
Clubs that provide such insurance.
If Warrior & Gulf's insurance is triggered, any claims against
the barge towing company exceeding $ 3 million, to a maximum of $ 25 million,
would be paid by the International Group of P&I Clubs.
Amtrak is insured against losses, but Mr. Black declined to state limits
of liability. Amtrak typically seeks to recover damages from motor carriers
that are found to be responsible for grade- crossing accidents, he said.
Because Amtrak indemnifies freight railroads whose tracks it uses for
damage to Amtrak equipment or for accident liability, the passenger carrier
ultimately may pay much of the cost of the wreck.
CSXT, which expects to complete work on a replacement bridge by Monday,
could absorb the $750,000 cost to rebuild the bridge, or it could seek
to recover damages from Warrior & Gulf.