US Air, Boeing to pay man in wife’s Flight 427 death

By Lawrence Walsh
Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The insurance company for US Air and Boeing have agreed to pay an undisclosed amount of money to the husband of a woman who died in the Sept. 8 crash of Flight a 427.

Associated Aviation Underwriters of Short Hills, N.J., which insures the airline, and Boeing, the manufacturer of the 737-300 twin-engine aircraft, agreed yesterday to settle with Brad Henderson of Swissvale. Henderson sued both companies for negligence in connection with his wife’s death.

Joy Newbould Henderson, 30, an accountant for Coopers & Lybrand |CPA of Pittsburgh and an avid student of the Civil War, had been in Chicago on a two-day business trip. She was one of 132 people who died in the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board hasn’t determined the cause.

Henderson, the manager of environmental services at R.J. Lee Group Inc. in Monroeville, declined to comment. He and his wife often visited Civil War battlefield sites. Gettysburg was her favorite.

Henderson’s attorney, Neil Rosen of Pittsburgh, said the terms of the settlement were confidential. “We’ve done what we can do from the legal point of view in terms of assisting the family financially. Regrettably, that’s all we can do.”

Rosen, who has settled two other Flight 427 lawsuits, said early settlements provided greater financial benefits for victims’ families because they avoid lengthy litigation and permit a substantial reduction in legal fees and costs.

At least six other families of victims of the crash have reached out of court settlements.

AAU spokesman Paul O’Donnell referred inquiries to Kevin Hilliard the company’s executive vice president and director of claims. Hilliard couldn’t be reached for comment.

Joy Henderson grew up in Baldwin Borough and was the daughter of the late Roy E. Newbould. She also is survived by her mother, Shirley Newbould, and her sister, |Barbara Newbould Blasko.