JUDGE KEEPS JAL <JAPN.T> CRASH SUIT ALIVE IN U.S.
A judge ruled that questions of
liability in the 1985 crash of a Japan Air Lines Boeing 747
which killed 520 people near Tokyo will be decided in Seattle.
    But he left open the possibility that monetary damages
could be awarded in a Japanese court.
    The ruling, by King County Superior Court Judge Gary
Rittle, came in a hearing on lawsuits in which survivors of 77
of the victims are seeking millions of dollars in compensation.
    Rittle said after the liability problems are settled, he
will examine the question of where damages will be decided.
    Lawyers for both the airline and the Seattle-based Boeing
Co (BA.N> argued that the suits should be handled in a Japanese
court, saying it would be more costly and time-consuming to
hear them in an American court.
    But lawyers for the victims' survivors said the two
companies were trying to evade the liability question and
reduce the amount of compensation they may have to pay.
    Court officials said the case was likely to go to trial
here in eight to 10 months.
    A draft report by a Japanese Transport Ministry
investigation team said faulty repairs in 1978 by Boeing and
inadequate inspection by ministry inspectors had contributed to
the cause of the disaster.
    The report, obtained by Reuters this week, is expected to
be made public next month. Boeing has said it will probably not
comment on the report until it is officially released.
 REUTER
