Spirit Airlines awards three passengers $5,000 each over turbulence DETROIT (AP) =97 A jury has awarded three Spirit Airlines passengers $5,000= =20 each for anguish they suffered when one of the company's jets took a sudden= =20 plunge in severe turbulence. The decision Wednesday disappointed the=20 passengers, Carolyn and William Conroy, and Ronald Patterson. Patterson=20 said he turned down $50,000 from the airline to settle the case. A=20 spokeswoman for the Florida-based airline said Thursday the company=20 couldn't comment because of other pending litigation related to the flight.= =20 The aircraft shook and plunged 4,000 feet during a Jan. 30, 2000 flight=20 from Ft. Myers, Fla., to Detroit. The Federal Aviation Administration=20 suspended the pilot's license after the incident, and he resigned. Spirit's= =20 lawyers said turbulence caused the incident, while the passengers' lawyer=20 said the pilot wasn't watching what he was doing. The incident prompted=20 more than two dozen lawsuits. Many have been settled. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.tha.gov.tt/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************