Southern District Judge Alvin Hellerstein (See Profile) has refused to preclude American Airlines from asserting an act-of-war defense to property claims arising from the destruction of the World Trade Center by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.
Hellerstein on May 20 rejected a motion for summary judgment made by attorneys for Larry Silverstein’s World Trade Center Properties (WTCP), which is seeking to recover damages for the alleged negligence of American Airlines in allowing armed terrorists to board its Flight 11 in Boston and fly the aircraft into the North Tower.
