Good news for private pilots' spouses

"Jim Macklin" wrote in message
news:vX09g.18419$ZW3.5002@dukeread04...
Trial lawyers will bring a suit anytime they feel that they
can find a stupid jury. I recall a case in the Miami area;
a pilot left the bar with a pretty heavy load of alcohol and
went to the airport. He pulled his Cherokee out of the
hanger about 4 AM and took off. He was sightseeing when the
fog rolled in. He flew around waiting for the fog to burn
off, which was mid-morning. Unfortunately he ran out of
fuel about an hour before and he crashed and died.
The widow and her lawyer sued, because the fuel tanks were
not big enough to let him stay aloft until the fog burned
off. I understand they won.

Many years ago, Cessna was successfully sued by the estate of a pilot that
flew into a shear rock wall (CFIT). The basis of the suit was that better
shoulder harnesses would have saved his life. This in the days before three
point harnesses, just lap belts and the model he was flying was well before
the three-point harness years.

IWLTB, that this was the case that broke the camels back and led Cessna to
drop out of the industry until the 1994 law was enacted.

Side note: the reason Ruger started stamping their guns with that verbose
warning (late 1970' or early 80's) was due to losing a suit to the estate of
a guy who was playing Russian Roulette. I suppose the warning would have
stopped him...

There was a military troop flight that crashed in Gander on
take-off [if I remember the details]. The plane had landed
to refuel and when it departed, the wheels were frozen and
did not roll. But on the ice, the crew did not notice and
they began the take-off roll [slide?]. The runway was
patchy and the acceleration was uneven. The crew finally
decided to abort and they went off the end of the runway.
The accident report said that the plane skidded off the
runway and some lawyer was looking at the plane's equipment
list and saw that it was equipped with anti-skid brakes.

Since the plane skidded off the runway, the brakes MUST have
failed so he sued.



--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...
|
| "Jim Macklin" wrote
in message
| news:vX09g.18419$ZW3.5002@dukeread04...
| Trial lawyers will bring a suit anytime they feel that
they
| can find a stupid jury. I recall a case in the Miami
area;
| a pilot left the bar with a pretty heavy load of alcohol
and
| went to the airport. He pulled his Cherokee out of the
| hanger about 4 AM and took off. He was sightseeing when
the
| fog rolled in. He flew around waiting for the fog to
burn
| off, which was mid-morning. Unfortunately he ran out of
| fuel about an hour before and he crashed and died.
| The widow and her lawyer sued, because the fuel tanks
were
| not big enough to let him stay aloft until the fog
burned
| off. I understand they won.
|
| Many years ago, Cessna was successfully sued by the estate
of a pilot that
| flew into a shear rock wall (CFIT). The basis of the suit
was that better
| shoulder harnesses would have saved his life. This in the
days before three
| point harnesses, just lap belts and the model he was
flying was well before
| the three-point harness years.
|
| IWLTB, that this was the case that broke the camels back
and led Cessna to
| drop out of the industry until the 1994 law was enacted.
|
| Side note: the reason Ruger started stamping their guns
with that verbose
| warning (late 1970' or early 80's) was due to losing a
suit to the estate of
| a guy who was playing Russian Roulette. I suppose the
warning would have
| stopped him...
|
|
|