U.S. Airways and Giant Industries have been added as defendants to the lawsuit over last year's head-on crash that killed a drunken, wrong-way driver and five members of a
Las Vegas, N.M., family.

The wrong-way driver, Dana Papst of Tesuque, took a U.S. Airways flight to Albuquerque on Nov. 11, 2006, and fellow passengers said flight attendants served Papst two miniature bottles of alcohol even though he appeared intoxicated. After the flight, police said, Papst bought a six-pack of beer at a Chevron Redi-Mart in Bernalillo and then drove on Interstate 25 to Santa Fe, where he somehow got turned around and plowed into the Las Vegas family's van. A 15-year-old girl in the van was the lone survivor.

Among those who died was Paul Gonzales, 36, son of Maxine Gonzales, stepson of Ralph Gonzales and brother of Ashley Renee Gonzales, who brought the wrongful-death lawsuit.

The family members filed the lawsuit in January against Ever-Ready Oil, which owned the Chevron Redi-Mart; the Santa Fe Opera, which employed Papst and sent him on the business-related trip he was returning from the night of the crash; Papst's estate; and Papst's widow, Stephanie Papst.

An amended complaint filed Oct. 18 in state District Court in Las Vegas adds Giant Industries, which owned Redi-Mart's liquor license, and the airline. Both counts against the companies allege violations of the state's dram-shop liability statute, which allows people to recover damages if an establishment negligently serves a driver alcohol.

U.S. Airways sold alcohol to Papst even though he was visibly intoxicated, according to the complaint.

One reason U.S. Airways was negligent was because the company had a duty to comply with the state's laws, but did not have a liquor license to sell alcohol in New Mexico, the complaint says. The airline has since filed for a liquor license and is not selling alcohol on New Mexico flights.

Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for U.S. Airways, which has its headquarters in Tempe, Ariz., said company officials are reviewing the lawsuit, but do not believe the company did anything wrong.

Flight attendants said Papst did not appear intoxicated, and the Federal Aviation Administration, which only interviewed airline employees, found the airline did nothing wrong.

Mark Cox, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Giant Industries, which is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment Thursday. Lawyers for the Gonzales family also did not return calls Thursday.

The suit does not specify the amount of damages the plaintiffs are seeking, but it does ask for punitive damages.

Another case similar to the Gonzales case is pending in the same Las Vegas court.

Arissa Garcia, 16, the only survivor, and Ray and Cathy Collins, brought that suit. The Collins couple are the parents of Renee Collins-Gonzales, 39, and grandparents of Alisha Garcia, 17; Jacquelynn Gonzales, 11; and Selena Gonzales, 10, all of whom died in the crash.

The Garcia and Collins suit lists Ever-Ready Oil; Shanna Renee Lovato, the clerk accused of selling the six-pack to Papst; Stephanie Papst as representative of Papst's estate; and the Santa Fe Opera as defendants.

But Robert Ortiz, an Albuquerque lawyer representing Garcia and the Collins couple, said he plans to add other defendants to the lawsuit soon.

Garcia and the Collins couple objected in May to a motion from Ever-Ready Oil to consolidate the two lawsuits, saying the cases have different defendants and causes of action.

For example, the Gonzales lawsuit alleges Stephanie Papst negligently entrusted Dana Papst with his vehicle while the Collins/Garcia lawsuit does not, the response says. And the Collins/Garcia lawsuit includes Lovato as a defendant while the Gonzales suit does not.

Edward Lopez, superintendent of the state Regulation & Licensing Department, which includes the Alcohol & Gaming Division, said he hopes the lawsuits will cause the state's liquor licensees to take the state's liquor laws more seriously.

Many liquor licensees have been concerned about a law that took effect in October 2006 that says licensees can lose their liquor licenses if they are found guilty of three or more liquor-law violations in a year, Lopez said.

But dram-shop lawsuits could end up costing liquor licensees everything, Lopez said. "It's last call for the bars to take these laws seriously," he said.