Passenger Sues Airline Over New York City Nose Gear Collapse

August 5, 2013

Southwest Airlines is facing its first lawsuit over a hard landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport last month that injured 16 people.

South Carolina resident Jacqueline Young was on the flight from Nashville, Tennessee, that made a nose-first landing at the airport on July 22.

She says in a lawsuit filed in New York on Friday that she suffered permanent injuries after the accident. She’s seeking unspecified compensation for her injuries.

A spokeswoman for Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. says the airline is unable to comment on pending litigation.

Federal investigators said last month that the plane touched down on its front nose wheel before the sturdier main landing gear in the back touched down. Southwest said then that the landing described by investigators violated the airline’s normal procedures.