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Judge Limits Damages in Comair Lawsuit

By Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The family of a man killed in the August 2006 crash of a Comair regional jet in Lexington cannot pursue punitive damages from the airline after a federal judge found that the company couldn't be punished for the "reprehensible behavior" of the pilots.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Karl Forester on Wednesday reverses an earlier decision that would have allowed the family of Bryan Keith Woodward, a Louisiana resident, to ask a jury if Comair committed gross negligence in the crash of Comair 5191.

The National Transportation Safety Board found that the pilots failed to notice clues they were on the wrong runway. The crash into a field near Blue Grass Airport killed 49. Co-pilot James Polehinke survived.

Woodward's family has already been awarded $7.1 million in compensatory damages.