Airline defendants to pay $95 million in 9/11 settlement

Insurers for defendants including American Airlines and United Airlines have agreed to pay USD 95 million to settle claims that security lapses led planes to be hijacked in the September 11 attacks.
The settlement was described in papers filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court. Developers of the new World Trade Center buildings had once demanded USD 3.5 billion from aviation companies after hijacked planes destroyed three skyscrapers on September 11, 2001.
Developer Larry Silverstein and World Trade Center Properties have collected over USD 5 billion from other defendants through numerous lawsuits. The money has aided the reconstruction of buildings on the 16-acre lower Manhattan site.

Earlier settlements included USD 135 million paid to a financial services firm that lost two-thirds of its employees.