Another GA lawsuite

"Peter Gottlieb" wrote in message
et...

"Larry Smith" wrote in message
...
A highway patrolman's motor vehicle accident report is not
admissible in
court. Except insofar as he is a witness, his report is mostly a
document
containing hearsay. Are you suggesting that hearsay be admitted
in
court?

A rigorous NTSB investigation is very different from a highway
patrolman's
report.

I can't agree they're rigorous at all, where it involves GA crashes
and occupants who are not famous or important. I've observed the
on-scene work in two fatal cases, and in one case I had dinner at a
Holiday Inn with the investigators -- I was a not-too-useful witness,
and we we all from out of town. They need only probable cause and can
call it they see it from the basic facts with a few hours work at the
site and in talking to various people, pending only toxicology
results. Here, two investigators arriving at 1:00PM, talked to a
dozen people, examined wreckage, and tentative conclusion by dinner
time. Also, they weren't NTSB people, but FAA FSDO working under
delegation.

They seemed very good at what they do, but I don't think you'd want
them as defense witnesses. Better to hire experts and investigators to
spend the time to do a thorough job, arriving at a conclusion from
other than first impression.

Fred F.