United Airlines is not responsible for the collapse of a third World Trade Center building on 9/11, stemming from suspected airport security lapses that allowed hijackers to crash a plane into the complex, a federal judge ruled yesterday.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein granted a request by United to dismiss negligence claims by Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of the, over the destruction of 7 World Trade Center from peripheral damage.
Two of the Flight 11 hijackers began their trip to New York at the Portland International Jetport, in Maine. Silverstein said that because United was among the carriers that ran Portland’s only security checkpoint, it was legally responsible for the screening of all passengers.