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Fed. Ct. Dismisses Film Companies' GA Suit over Plane Crash

By Greg Land
October 01, 2018

A federal judge in Atlanta dismissed a complaint filed by four movie-production companies hoping to dodge liability for a fatal plane crash tied to the filming of the Tom Cruise picture American Made. Cross Creek Pictures LLC v. S&S Aviation Inc., 1:2017cv3440.

In dismissing the lawsuit, in which the production companies want to push liability onto the Georgia company responsible for the aircraft's maintenance, Judge Michael Brown of the Northern District of Georgia emphasized that the underlying litigation is currently playing out in California. “And no one knows what the outcome of that case will be,” Judge Brown wrote. “No one can say if it is likely, unlikely, probable or improbable that plaintiffs will be liable.”

American Made starred Cruise as Barry Seal, a onetime TWA pilot who turned to drug and gun-smuggling for the Medellin Cartel. Seal was recruited by the Drug Enforcement Agency during the 1980s to try to capture cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.

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