By Megan Power
The family of a South African killed in the World Trade Centre attack in 2001 will not file a wrongful death lawsuit against American Airlines.
Former Johannesburg resident, 29-year-old Nicholas Rowe, died along with thousands of others when an American Airlines Boeing 767 was flown into the landmark New York twin towers on September 11, 2001.
Rowe, who had been on the 106th floor of the north tower attending a conference, had moved to the United States five years earlier.
On Monday, the first wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of a World Trade Centre worker against an airline was filed in New York. All other suits have been filed on behalf of passengers killed aboard the two ill-fated jets.
The husband of victim Bonnie Shihadeh Smithwick, who had been working on the 93rd floor of the World Trade Centre's north tower when the attack took place, is suing American Airlines and an airport security firm for $50-million (about R560-million).
He claims they failed to properly screen passengers boarding Flight 11 at Boston's Logan International Airport.
On Tuesday night, Rowe's sister in Pretoria, Rachel Logan, said the family had been encouraged by friends to sue for damages but had decided against it.
"We talked about it, but realised it would be too traumatic for us," said Logan.
"Besides, the legal costs would be enormous, especially from South Africa. It's easier for people living in America to sue," she said.
Rowe's parents travelled from Johannesburg to New York in March to clear out her brother's flat, she said.
The family of the other South African victim, 37-year-old Craig Gibson, were unavailable for comment.
Gibson, who had moved to New York with his Australian wife just eight months earlier, had been at his desk on the 94th floor of the north tower when the towers were struck.