Dear Editor,

I have been following the incident regarding American Airlines flight 331 since its occurrence on December 22 and to date it would appear that several passengers who were on that flight are no better than vultures, about to descend and feed on their prey.

I say this because of the reports of a local lawyer being hired and now a party of three lawyers from Ribbeck Law, a Chicago-based firm, has flown into the island to offer legal counsel to injured passengers.

I can understand and appreciate the concern of those involved – and furthermore – injured in the incident, but has anyone asked American Airlines what their position is regarding compensation for the injured? Given the carrier the opportunity to respond? Yes?

It seems to me, much like the American press, that many law firms create what I label “sensationalism”, when incidents of this nature occur similar to Tiger Woods’ recent mishap, the day after Thanksgiving. Indeed, I am willing to bet that next year we will be reminded by the American press, not of the Thanksgiving holiday, but rather that it is the anniversary of Tiger Woods’ accident.

I have also watched much coverage of the AA incident on various networks on cable TV and have heard the ridiculous suggestions that our runway is too short and there were no runway lights, as well as comments from a former AA pilot who used to fly 727 aircraft into Jamaica, but I believe that if aircraft as large as the C-5 Galaxy, 747s and DC-10s can land here, then runway length is not an issue.

Were I unfortunate enough to have been on that flight, my first thought would have been to thank God for His divine intervention and to count my blessings that I had lived to reunite with my family. I can understand and appreciate the concern of those injured, but this rush to hire or engage legal counsel would make it seem as though they are “red-eye”, “licky-licky”, or whatever, in Jamaican parlance.

Andrew Camacho

Kingston

grim_reaper62@yahoo.com