1420 crash will haunt mother, 2 daughters, expert says

By ANDREA HARTER

LITTLE ROCK — Stephanie Manus is always only a word or thought away from a cue that will bring back the horror she experienced on American Airlines Flight 1420, a psychological expert testified Thursday.

And her two daughters, Emily and Lauren, now 4 and 6 respectively, will always be emotionally troubled by the images they saw as they were trying to escape the burning plane, said Erin Bigler, chairman of the psychology department at Brigham Young University in Utah.

The damages trial in the June 1, 1999, Little Rock crash is expected to go to the federal jury today.

Manus' psychologists have all agreed she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, but Bigler was unambiguous in saying the children would always be colored by the experience, a point on which other witnesses have offered differing opinions.

Under cross-examination by American Airline's attorney Katherine Staton, Bigler downplayed the suggestion that Emily Manus' destructive behavior at home -- she terrorizes the family cat, tears up toys and hits -- was just a normal childhood phase.

"Emily's rambunctiousness may be childhood roughness, but however you look at it ... [both girls] will always have the backdrop that they've been in a horrific accident," Bigler said.

Staton, trying to maneuver Bigler to another subject, said American "wasn't trying to say the accident didn't happen" and that to suggest the children's actions were abnormal would only be speculation -- which the jury is not allowed to consider.

Bigler countered that the girls' actions "will never be completely independent of the plane crash."

To make that hypothesis, Staton said, Bigler was relying on data on Vietnam veterans who suffered shell shock or battle fatigue, later renamed post-traumatic stress disorder. She said that since he was not basing his opinions on plane-crash survivors' psychological statistics, they might not be pertinent.

Bigler responded that -- "thank heavens" -- there was not such a population to draw from for statistical studies. American was aware of that: Its psychological expert in two earlier Flight 1420 trials, Dr. Spencer Eth, pointed out that most people don't survive a plane crash, so data on long-term effects is limited.

Manus' testimony was consistent with her psychological reports that she has been consistently improving with therapy and mood-altering medication.

Manus recounted her experience on Flight 1420. She said she was sitting between her daughters and holding their hands. The plane failed to stop, and she heard screams as the jet ripped into a steel light stanchion and careened over a rock embankment before breaking in half on the bank of the Arkansas River.

"I thought when we hit those rocks, we were dead. At least we were going to go together," Manus said, crying.

Manus told of encountering 81-year-old Vaughn Houston, a Phoenix retiree who was blocking the aisle.

"This old man said, 'Please don't step on me. Please help me.' He reminded me of my grandpa. I told him, 'I can't. I've got to save my babies,' " she sobbed.

Manus said that she crawled over Houston with her two kids in tow.

Several passengers trampled Houston in their rush to escape. Eventually, two men carried him to the plane's emergency exit and pitched him down the wing. Two other passengers dragged him away from the smoking jet.

In some ways, Manus said, she feels as if she died on the plane, because her family is completely changed.

"Emily used to be a daddy's girl, but after the crash, she wouldn't have anything to do with Jimmy. She's told him that she was scared that night and that Daddy should have been there."

Manus said daily problems continue to crop up that no one suspected. Lauren, for instance, is terrified when her school conducts fire drills, and the kindergartner is convinced she will be burned.

American opened its defense with Dr. Carol North, a St. Louis physician and post-traumatic stress disorder expert, who testified that Manus is still afflicted but is a remarkable woman who "hasn't missed a beat mothering her children."

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