*Judge: Plane that struck city neighborhood subject to maritime laws
NEW YORK, May 10, 2006 (AP Worldstream via COMTEX) – One of America’s deadliest airline disasters nearly five years ago is subject to general maritime laws, a judge has ruled, allowing potentially higher damages for dozens of people who sued.
U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet ruled Tuesday the crash of Dominican Republic-bound American Airlines Flight 587 qualifies as a maritime disaster because a chunk of the aircraft sunk in “navigable waters,” the crash could have affected maritime commerce, and the plane was on a transoceanic flight which “bears a significant relationship to traditional maritime activity.”*
This is a pretty ridiculous ruling if you ask me.