Mapmaker Dropped from Comair Kentucky Crash Lawsuit

A federal judge has ruled a company that designs airport maps and charts won’t have to face trial in the liability case stemming from a deadly Comair plane crash in Kentucky two years ago.

Judge Karl Forester’s summary judgment in the case concludes Jeppesen Sanderson wasn’t responsible for the Aug. 27, 2006, crash at Lexington’s airport that killed 49 people.

Forester notes in his ruling that Jeppesen’s airport chart that morning failed to mention a taxiway barrier that forced planes to take a slightly different route to the runway. However, the judge said there was no evidence the Comair pilots relied on that chart when they steered the jet onto the wrong runway that was too short for proper takeoff.

The liability case goes to trial in August.