E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
See images from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
A U.S. judge ruled that AMR Corp's American Airlines and United Continental Holdings Inc must face trial over claims relating to the September 11 attacks that destroyed the landmark towers of the World Trade Center in New York almost 11 years ago, court documents showed.
In July 2001, two months before the attacks, World Trade Center Properties LLC (WTCP) bought 99-year leases to four World Trade Center buildings from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Inc for $2.805 billion.
In its lawsuit against United Airlines and American Airlines, WTCP said that had it not been for the airlines' negligence, "the terrorists could not have boarded and hijacked the aircraft and flown them into the twin towers," on September 11, 2001, according a New York court filing.
NBC News anchors and correspondents recall their personal memories of reporting live the morning of September 11, 2001 as the terrorist attacks on America unfolded and as some of the memorable stories emerged in the days and weeks that followed.
The company claimed damages of $8.4 billion from the airlines, the estimated cost of replacing the towers.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein limited the value of WTCP's destroyed property to $2.805 billion, the price WTCP paid for the leases.
The defendants denied they were negligent, and said the case should not go to trial because WTCP has recovered $4.091 billion from insurance companies.
Farooq Naeem / AFP - Getty Images
U.S. forces found and killed the al-Qaida leader in the affluent Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where he had been living in a large compound.
Judge Hellerstein said at this stage he could not reasonably determine the defendants' claim that insurance payments received by WTCP covered the damages the company is seeking from them.
"On this record, before trial, I am not able to make such findings," Judge Hellerstein said in a court filing.
The case is in re September 11 litigation, Case No. 21-MC-101, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Thousands of dead nutria pile up on Mississippi beaches after Isaac
- Sex-change surgery for prison inmate granted by judge
- Gay teen sues school district after being expelled for firing stun gun
- Video: ‘No Easy Day’ hits shelves
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Leave a Comment:
Remind me again why military jets were not scrambled in time to take down planes 2,3, and 4. Also, remind me again why when they were finally scrambled they were sent out over the ocean away from NYC.
Until the second jet hit, the belief was that the first jet into the towers was a very bad freak accident. No one considered anything like was transpiring would occur, at least until the second jet hit.
(I very honestly remember sitting watching the ABC news (Good Morning America to be exact) that morning, thinking I was very glad I had NOT taken that new job in the towers when I saw the second jet coming..... before it even hit, I turned to my wife and said "we're under attack... that's no accident.")
The jets were scrambled as soon as they realized what was going on. And they went out over the ocean as they didn't know if that was a diversion from a main attack.
And even if they had NOT gone feet wet, WHAT EXACTLY would you have had them do? Shoot every plane in the air out of the sky? They had no idea which planes were the good guys and which planes were the bad. And they could not have shot anything down anyway. Pre 9-11, aircraft that were scrambled were actually unarmed. That was the reason the pilots chasing down the aircraft that went down in PA were going to ram it if they caught up to it in time. The only weapon available to them was their own aircraft.
So, do you need any more answers? Or do you distrust the government enough to actually believe they would kill their own to justify some agenda?
True the TSA was not formed until after 911. But what about the CIA and FBI. These are two government departments are there to protect us from this type of action. The taxpayers pay billions of dollars to operate these two departments. What were CIA and FBI agents in the USA doing before 911 - sleeping? What were all the CIA agents in the Middle East doing before 911 - partying?
Actually, they were doing their jobs.
HOWEVER..... and this is the point everyone always forgets. The FBI is/was a DOMESTIC institution. The CIA is/was a FOREIGN institution. Due to the laws, they could NOT collaborate on information discovered. That was the theoretical reason the DNI was created. The DNI was to oversee all intelligence functions of ALL entities, CIA, DIA, FBI, NSA, etc. and distill all information to pertinent facts. Of course it doesn't really work like that in the real world. The concept and implemantation was flawed from the start.
There are still too many people in the sanbox and everyone of them thinks they're the most important and doesn't like to play well with the others. But, it's government, what more do you expect? Functionality?
The only people responsible were those mother @!$%#er terrorists. To blame anyone else is taking the blame away from those mother @!$%#er terrorists. If someone steals my car and then ram it into a crowd of people and killed 30 of them. How would I be held responsible for that. The airline and the government are not responsible. This is nothing but a money grab from a bunch of mother @!$%#er lawyers.
It is just another picture of a extremely overpaid publicity seeking politlician pretending to be a judge.
I guess it's never too late to turn up the greed knob.
I remember waking that morning and watching the weather report. Our local weather man is known to have suffered from arthritis for years. That moring as he was broadcasting he said, and I quote, "... really feeling kind of stiff and sore today folks, you know that bodes ill for today...."
He knew something bad was going to happen. I intend to report this to the court. As anyone with common sense can see, if he would have done his duty as an American that whole situation would have been avoided!!!
Post no.1 says it all. Prior to 9/11 and even after 9/11 who gets pass security checkpoint is not up to the airlines. Only after 9/11 have the airlines initiated there own security as far as who is boarding.
I am totally dumbfounded by this lawsuit.... what fault did the airlines commit? Why is the US so law-suit /we must blame someone (and if they have money, better!) for everything happy? That I know of, if anyone is to blame, it is the airport security and the Government:
- the first as, per their name, they are fully responsible for airport security and the security checks/ screenings, etc., allowing the passengers access to the airports and planes
- the second as they are the ultimate body responsible for security, to not forget some of the information that came out and they neglected to follow-up on time, as was the case of the flight school reporting to the authorities that there were students only interested in learning how to take off, not land, and it not being investigated at all.
But, no matter how you look at it, it was Airport security that failed (they allowed these people to board with cutters????) and definitely not the airlines.
At the time, it was perfectly legal to board a plane with a knife or even "box cutters".
Well.. well.. well... all I can say is this is going to get interesting very very fast.. Don't think this Judge is going to make it to a ripe old age... or he is going to get a spanking.. besides that. most of the comments seem to appease the commentator to the horrific event.. Maybe it is a way to adjust to the destruction.. Don’t really know, but I do know I was on shift that day.. and although this was a terrorist event.. it came from the inside..
I am not sure what happened to the coometn I wrote, posted and was confirmed was here... guess NBC was just trying to get my details for their data base.
Now, as I did say before, if anyone is to blame it is:
- airport security for failing to correctly screen the terrorists and check what they carried on-board with them (they actually let them board with cutters?????). Airport access and plane boarding security screening is up to Airport security - NOT the airlines
- the Government, who is ultimately responsible for the country's security and who did not correctly even use the intelligence they did have (i.e. the report from the flight school that they had students interested in only learning how to take off!). This was not a breakdown in information between intelligence agencies - it was pure neglect on the part of the FBI
Why is it the US is so lawsuit/someone must pay happy?? It happened, we learned, let's apply the lesson and move forward!!! How greedy can the companies be?
Last I heard, it was the various government entities that have police powers.
These guys just want to extort money.
So far, these 'investors' (should I suggest extortionists?) only doubled their money in a few months. They need a better return.
Don't ever forget, JUDGES ARE LAWYERS!! You know who ends up paying for all this garbage, The 51 % of Americans who pay taxes!!!!
This is nothing more and nothing less than a shakedown by greedy, cowardly bastards that are scared to death to go after the real culprits: The retard pervert of Texas and his cadre of war crminals. The problem here is not justice, or negligence but lack of cojones, lack of morals for bringing the Taj Mahal of war criminals to justice and because as usual, the monkey knows which tree to climb.
The people suing the arilines know that those responsbile for the inside job can't be touch, ergo, they go after those who seem responsible, but can't ever be responsible for 9/11. You can't choose second best or worse and still think that justice is served, will be served.
Everybody knew that the retard pervert of Texas knew way before anybody, including the airlines, that those attacks were coming and the how, but the war criminals needed those to attacks to come so they could take the tax payers to the cleaners, fiscally and morally and get rid of Muslims at the same time. A win, win situation. I hope the airlines don't play dead like Obama and demand documents that corroborate he and his cadre of criminals knew the attacks were coming. The FBI has a list longer than Lance Armstrong's of drug incidents that prove, a la Lance, they they all are guilty. So much so, that even the retard was quoted, stating: Now you covered your ass, and the inference later on is: Now, leave me alone, I know what I'm doing and by God America joined the cadre of rogue nations but still able to keep the appearances of "Christian and democratic" nation. What scam, what injustice, what greed!
Seriously Hell No? May I remind you that Clinton's admin (he had it for 8-years before the "retard .. of Texas") supplied and sold guns to Al Qaeda? Or better yet, how are we all not responsible as well? Our tax monies was mis appropriated to aid them?
Hell no-568603
I'm not saying you're blowing smoke where smoke don't belong, but PLEASE provide a REPUTABLE source for the following:
"quoted"..... seriously???
Please don't tell me the YOU believe your own nonsense.... do you?
For auntie Jemima and dumb and dumber, here let me give you what it's plastered all over the internet. The article is commenting about the many, myriad of instances from differetn sources about impending attacks, which BTW, were as specific as citing NYC and the Pentagon as targets and the how also, planes, pilots learning how to fly but not to land. Here it goes: "The President received this sobering information at his Crawford ranch, while on vacation. Did he spring into action? Make a phone call? Ask a question? Nope. Instead, he told the briefer, “Well, you’ve covered your ass,” and moved on. How you like them apples. It's good to question something, but please trying to ignoring the obvious implies that you are already in the column of those who will not believe even if Europe gets a hold of our war criminals. But, of course, don't expect me to be this ignorant about reality, I just can't and I won't. Why do you think he fought, along with his cadre of war crminals and congress to deny the investigating commssion subpoena powers and statements under oath? Don't you think criminals would be opposed til death of revealing the truth, ever? I have said it here many times before, when I report something, I have the facts, but I doubt it you will believe them, course and as usual they are too close for comfort and no one will touch that a la Mc Hammer, too scaredy cats. Are you happy now? Glad to oblige. You're welcome!
9/11 families have known for a long time that there is more to this story, and thier demands for a real investigation have fallen on deaf ears....For those who believe the lies....read a little first and then tell me it was terrorists alone...google Sibel Edmonds, nine 9/11 witnesses die suspiciously,f.b.i knew about 9/11 hi-jackers and were allowed to board, james woods 9/11 story, israeli and turkish spies in america, 7/7 bombing and 9/11.. Architects challenge 9/11 official story....And why is there No media coverage on some truly troubling issues? except Russia today and Al-jazeera...Isn't America supposed to have the best and most unrestricted news media? Oh yeah huge Corp. own all the outlets now...no conflict of interest.....Kochbrothersexposed.org
If I were the airlines, I would argue that Larry Silverstein, the owner of Building 7 and the one who held the lease on the WTC twin towners and his security team were negligent in allowing thermite to be planted within the structures prior to the hijackings and should not have been paid any previous insurance settlement. Thousands died on 9/11 due to controlled demolition; the twin towers were designed to withstand a plane crash. Architects, physicists and demolition experts have made a strong case for a new 9/11 investigation.
How stupid. They already got the insurance money. I bet this is instigated by some lawyers that see a handsome cut out of billions of dollars.
Why not sue the FBI, the CIA and Bill Clinton for not killing Osama Bin Laden in the 1990's before the attack.
Honestly, the only people that would be made whole are all of the lawyers involved! And if applying simple math, if you loose $2 but was given $4, there is a gain and not a loss of $2, correct? Further, 40% of $2.8 billion is how much the lawyers were to gain?
And if the WTCP wants to throw blame, how about the Airline industry throwing some right back and countersuing: WTCP were stupid enough to build such a tall and obvious marker in the flight path that wouldn't/couldn't sustain an impact of airplanes! Air space was there way before the towers were built.
No one should or could be responsible for this evil, except for the ones that planned and executed it.
It's the port authority for building those towers that high and too close together making them a target And wtcp for buying them Lets put the blame were it lays or let the airlines go broke over this wonder what the NEXT charge will be to cover this lawsuit? Send this case to "The Peoples Court" or Judge Judy"
Bunch of wierdos it was an act of war, the only one who were guilty of anything were the boneheads who did the attack.
For once, I'm on the airlines' side here. The terrorists planned what they did very well. If government intelligence knew there were funky things going on, they're the ones that didn't put two and two together, or failed to act if they did. The airlines were just used. There is no point in blaming them, or in rehashing this over and over again. It's long past time to drop the fear and quit blaming everyone and move forward.
Lets assume the airlines lose and are forced to pay. How does that make things better? The 2 airlines will go broke, and you will all be paying $1,000 for a round trip, coach seat from Boston to NYC.
Also, consider the fact that Bin Laden manipulated the stock market so that the funding for these attacks was already in place. In other words, it didn't cost them a dime. We paid for the attacks with our own money, but we did not know it at the time.
Look folks, its over and done with. The terrorists died in the attack, and Obama killed Osama. Time to move on.
It was the war pigs and the war machine that are responsible. Ask yourself why someone would do what they did(crash the planes into government land marks). What did we do to make these people that upset. It is our interests in other country's that are being waged by our government and the super rich. If Alquada and Ben Laden wanted civilian casualties he would of crashed those planes into football stadiums on football sunday. The CIA and its sneaky activity over seas is why 911 occured.
So......Isn't TSA in charge of SCREENING passengers? How can these investment fat-cats who are simply trying to recoupe on their ill-timed & unfortunate investment ,say that the airlines were negligent?! Airport security was obviously NOT UP TO PAR. Yet these money driven, attorney-backed greedy people want to go after them, since they know that the government would take decades to settle (if they would even admit fault in the first place)! Shame on them! Don't they know that there is always risk involved in business investments? Didn't they have insurance? How much? As you are aware, the world trade centers were at a great risk due to attempted terror attacks in the time prior to 9/11. Remember the numerous attempted car bombings in some of the garages prior? They got a HUGE insurance pay-outs already. The airlines involved, were victims. Just like the people who perished in the towers, in the attack, because of lax airport security nationwide and bureaucrats who didn't heed the warnings of terrorist experts who told them and attack of this manner was imminent.
Cee-3609664
Current events is obviously NOT a strong suit of yours.
TSA did NOT EXIST when the attacks occurred.
"Numerous" car bombings? One incident is "numerous"?
What is going on with judges these days? Yesterday a judge approves a sex change for a murderer in prison and now a judge is saying 911 is the airlines fault? WTF!!!!! Scumbag lawyers are at the bottom of this. I hate lawyers who do nothing but go after causes for money. I hope the airlines win this trial and they counter sue the dumb @$$ lawyers behind the lawsuit and win.
DadInAZ-3698986
Yet we all continually elect and re-elect those very same LAWYERS into political office.
We ARE insane. We continually do the VERY same thing over and over and over again hoping for a different result!
No, not insane, but extremely stupid.
When network TV produces a show called "Are you smarter than a 5th grader", or commercials for prylosec OTC with a dumbass redneck as its spokesman, that's "a clue". Or at least it should be.
71 % of Americans do not have a college degree, and 100 % of the people you elect to office DO have a college degree. 13 % of Americans don't even have a high school diploma. What do you think our elected officials are thinking about the 71%???????????
Mark-768209
Uhmmm.... "If these MF's ever catch on to our scam we're toast. They'll hang us from the closest tall oak tree."
And the possession or lack of a "formal" education does NOT make one stupid. It just proves those WITH a degree are better at manipulating others for personal gain.
XDm9mm.... I agree with you. The politicians in this country are pure crap. Why do these fools keep getting voted back into office? Take a look at the laws these fools write. Volume after volume of garbage. It takes several people and days to read through many of the laws these profession criminals pass.
Seriously, we need to take our country back from these crooks and put them all in jail.
"And the possession or lack of a "formal" education does NOT make one stupid"
In their eyes, it does.
I agree there are a lot of smart people who don't have a degree (me for one), but its just as likely there are a lot of morons out there who DO have degrees (see my posting on college students cheating), so it probably all evens out in the end......