A New York man has filed a $10 million lawsuit against US Airways after he says he was injured following a crash landing at Philadelphia International Airport last year.
Frank Gabbamonte, of Hawthorne, N.Y., suffered permanent damage to his shoulder after jumping down the emergency slide of US Airways flight 1702 after it crash landed following an aborted takeoff last March, according to the federal lawsuit.
"In the process of going down the chute himself, he struck his left shoulder on the ground and caused a rather severe injury," Jonathan Reiter, the man's attorney, told NBC10.
Gabbamonte damaged his rotator cuff and tore cartridge and ligaments in his shoulder and biceps, the lawsuit said. He had to undergo surgery months after the crash and has not been able to return to his job hauling heavy auto parts, the attorney added.
He was one of 149 passengers and five crew members evacuated from the Airbus A320 on March 13, 2014. Officials initially said a blown tire and wind shear contributed to the crash, but an internal Federal Aviation Administration report obtained by the NBC10 Investigators points to pilot error.
The report concluded the pilots failed to input departure speeds into the jet's onboard computer and ignored audible and written warnings during takeoff. The airliner was 70 feet off the ground when the captain aborted the flight. The plane's tail smashed into the runway forcing the nose down and causing the landing gear to collapse, the report said. The jet skidded 2,000 feet across a field before coming to a rest.
Officials also said the captain shouldn't have been flying. He had narcotics in his system from a medical procedure he underwent two days prior, the report said.
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A spokeswoman for US Airways said the airline could not comment citing the pending case. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected release a final report this spring.
