Bob Clifford Speaks to Wall Street Journal Reporter About Malaysia Jet and Need for “Live Black Box”

Robert A. Clifford, senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, spoke to The Wall Street Journal about the need for every commercial jetliner to be equipped with what are called “live black boxes” that jettison from the aircraft upon impact and put out an electronic signal that allows search and rescue teams to find the record and wreckage location in minutes or hours. Mr. Clifford spoke to Andy Pasztor of The Wall Street Journal for a story entitled, “Missing Malaysia Jet Adds Fuel to ‘Live Black Box’ Debate,” March 9, 2014. In that story written also by reporter Jon Ostrower, it was reported that, “Regardless of what caused a Malaysia Airlines jet to disappear from the sky over the weekend, air safety experts predict it will reignite debate over new technology designed to provide immediate clues for investigators in the event of a crash.” “‘It’s a terrific idea, and the Air France crash certainly taught us that,'” Clifford told the reporter, referring to the June 1, 2009 crash of Air France 447 where discovery of the plane’s remnants took nearly two years and an estimated $50 million to recover. In quoting the “Chicago-based veteran plaintiff’s attorney,” The Wall Street Journal story goes on to quote Clifford as saying, “‘If we have a repeat’ of the long and difficult recovery process in that accident, he said, ‘the drive to install new technology is certainly going to escalate.'” As Clifford said in a statement issued on his firm’s website, “To ask families to again go through that pain-staking time with no answer is inexcusable.”