Corboy & Demetrio Obtains $1.9 Million Settlement for TWA Flight 800 Plane Crash Victim

Two Chicago residents, whose father was killed in the crash of TWA Flight 800, have settled their family's wrongful death lawsuit against The Boeing Company and Trans World Airlines for $1.9 million. The plane exploded over Long Island Sound on July 17, 1996 after taking off from New York's Kennedy Airport for a scheduled arrival in Paris.

Attorney Francis Patrick Murphy of Corboy & Demetrio negotiated the settlement on behalf of Tiffany Rhoads Olson, 31 and Matthew Rhoads, 28, both of Chicago and the son and daughter of Harry "Scott" Rhoads, who was 49 years old when he died. Mr. Rhoads' wife, Marit, a flight attendant for TWA, was also killed in the crash.

The Rhoads' lived in Bellevue, Washington and were heading to Paris on vacation. Mr. Rhoads was a football and wrestling coach with the Bellevue public schools for 27 years and had planned the trip as a getaway before summer football workouts were to begin. The couple had been high school sweethearts who found each other again years later and were married. Their bodies were recovered from the ocean and the couple is buried in adjoining plots in Seattle.

The settlement was approved on Friday in federal court in the Southern District of New York. Tiffany and Matthew will share the proceeds of the settlement with their half-sister Aurora Bray Talackson, 24, of Washington.