The Bavis family is suing United Airlines and a security firm, Huntleigh USA, who ran an airport checkpoint, for the pain and suffering that their son felt on 9/11. Their son was a passenger on Flight 175.
The case was brought before a judge who determined that the family can not only sue for their son’s wrongful death, but also that the family may also sue for damages caused by 21 minutes of fear on Flight 175 that led to emotional pain and suffering.
No one knows what actually occurred during these 21 minutes, but the audio tapes of calls from the passengers indicate that there was sheer terror and chaos during the short time the flight was in the air. Both of the pilots had been killed and a flight attendant had been stabbed. Towards the end of the flight, the plane had a very erratic flight pattern and was flying at a high rate of speed. This was believed to increase the emotional suffering of those aboard the flight.
To achieve a settlement for both pain and suffering and wrongful death, the Bavis family will need to prove that the airline and the security firm were negligent in doing their jobs. That is, that they allowed the terrorists on the plane after they went through the same screening processes as the other passengers. This case is the only wrongful death case involving 9/11 that still remains unresolved.