A new trend in criminal trials...similarities to value jet crash criminal trial?

[FN FAL]

I think value jet was the first plane crash I had heard of where there were criminal negligence charges filed. In current news, there was the French Government and their plans to try an Airline and it's executives in a criminal court over it's alleged part in causing the Concorde crash.

Recently, a state on the east coast has broadened it's police powers by allowing police to cite motorists for anything the officer "thinks" is negligent. Ie: the cop sees you talking on a cell phone and doesn't like the way you drive. No worry, if it's not against the law to talk on your cell phone and drive; If the officer thinks it's negligent, they can charge you under their new negligent driving law.

Hmmmm? Now they can charge you for what they "THINK" you were going to do...never mind intent or an actual incident occuring, the officer can just charge you. Sounds like a blanket law to me...I hope that state's courts are so clogged up, child molesters, muggers, rapists and bank robbers run free! REEEEALLLLY? No, not REALLY!

Anyway, this story below pertains to the manager of an amusment park who allegedly managed and maintained this ride "negligently" and therefore is charged with second degree murder in criminal trial. Just like what we saw with O.J. Simpson...first the criminal trial, then the civil trial. And in this amusement park accident, the same is happening.

As managers of rides, we as captains face a new delema...we all knew we could get sued if we banged one up. But nobody told us that we would face criminal charges for negligence as well. These charges don't require a guilty mind or "mens rea" to get a conviction...they just have to prove you were negligent and there's your second degree murder conviction.

Looking back at the convair plane crash recently; where the captain walked away and the co-pilot died, would the owner-operator face these charges? NO....the captain would. He's the final authority and the CFR's say so.

Lets all be careful out there.

Tenn. Carnival Ride Murder Trial Begins

By DUNCAN MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A woman's safety harness suddenly came open as a carnival ride rocked 60 feet in the air, tossing her to her death, her 16-year-old son testified Thursday at the murder trial of an amusement park manager.

Cody Alexander told jurors he was seated next to his 51-year-old mother, June Carol Alexander, as the gondola-like ride rocked back and forth, going higher each time as it moved toward a full over-the-top rotation.

"'I'm loose. I'm unhooked,'" the teenager said his mother told him. "At the height of the ride, about 60 feet in the air, her harness opened, and she fell."

The teenager was the first witness in the trial of amusement park manager Charles Stan Martin on charges of second-degree murder and reckless homicide in the woman's March 2004 death.

Prosecutors contend the ride at the Rockin' Raceway park in the Smoky Mountain tourist town of Pigeon Forge was plagued with problems, and that Martin was the mechanic in charge of keeping it running.

The youngster testified that after his mother's fall, the ride slowly came to a stop, but that it took a half-hour to release him from his harness. Only then did he learn his mother was dead.

"I was not told until after I had already gotten to her," he said.

In opening statements, defense attorney Bryan Delius said the ride's Italian manufacturer, Zamperla Inc., bore the blame rather than Martin.

"Stan Martin could never recklessly hurt anyone," Delius said.

Delius said the $475,000, 24-passenger ride was beset with mechanical and electrical problems since it was delivered to Rockin' Raceway in 1998. The ride was a prototype and came without a manual, he said.

Delius said Zamperla experts spent only two days setting up the ride, called The Hawk, and training Rockin' Raceway staff, then were called back soon after the ride crashed into its own platform and the manufacturer's crew made major modifications.

Investigators have said the ride's safety systems failed, and circuits to prevent the ride from shutting down were overridden with "jumper wires" in the main electrical panel.

Martin, who managed Rockin' Raceway for 17 years with his wife, "did not put a jumper on The Hawk. We don't know who did," Delius said.

If convicted, Martin could face up to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder and up to four years for reckless homicide.

Alexander's family, from the Nashville suburb of Millersville, has filed negligence lawsuits against Martin, Rockin' Raceway's local owners and Zamperla seeking a total of $96 million.

 

[typhoonpilot]

This is one area, of two ( aeromedical being the other ), where ALPA earns your dues money. We can thank them for keeping aviation accidents from being cases of criminal negligence on the part of the pilot. In most un-civilized ( and even some civilized ) countries this is not the case. If you have an accident, you can pretty much count on getting your A$$ thrown in jail.

Valuejet is certainly not the first case though. In 1976 a DC-9 and Trident collided over the Zagreb VOR, killing 176 people. Five controllers were thrown in jail and charged with murder. One was eventually convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison. He was released after serving 2 years. There are many more examples of this happening in Europe and elsewhere.

The problem with this mentality is that only with open investigation of accidents can the industry hope to gain an understanding of how to prevent them from happening again. An open investigation can not happen if critical participants are facing criminal charges. They would easily choose to " take the 5th " or lie in order protect themselves. That is simple human nature.

For my part, if I ever have an incident or accident overseas, I would first take care of the passengers and crew and then beat feet to the nearest embassy. Hoping, beyond hope, that I wasn't handcuffed and thrown in jail before making it to the safety of "American soil".


TP

 

[airspeed]

Do you know what state is doing this? I cannot see pilots in the USA getting criminal charges unless it was done intentionally.

 

[91100 100 set]

Along similar lines, I heard the other day about the possiblity of getting jail time for busting through P-56 in the Washington area. And not your average Doctor Mooney or Lawyer Bonanza using his GPS to go to some pancake fly-in. But your everyday airline pilots. Granted, there really isn't a good excuse under normal circumstances, but in an emergency? Probably not true. Hopefully not true, but I'm afraid we are living in a police state all for the illusion of "homeland security".

 

[airspeed]

I couldnt agree more about the police state. I really with there were no governments!

 

[typhoonpilot]

I really with there were no governments!

I'll assume that was an "s" you meant to type in there.


TP

 

[A Squared]

I'm not sure that this is a new thing. I'm not a expert in criminal law, but hasn't there always been a point at which an act of negligence or carelessness becomes criminal? Let's say you were shooting a high powered rifle across a busy highway. Even if you were just shooting with no intention of hitting a car or person, I think that you'd still face criminal charges if you you killed somone. I don't think that's anything new.

Now in tha case of the carnival ride, the details aren't too clear, but if somone did in fact intentionally bypass a safety device and somone died as a result, that's starting to have some similarities to shooting across a highway. You're intentionally doing something which endangers others, knowing it is wrong.

As for aircraft crashes, I believe that the pilot in this case did some jail time as a result.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001214X43563&key=1

I don't think anyone could argue that he shouldn't have faced criminal charges.


added:

Criminal Negligence: Behavior creating a situation that reasonably could be considered dangerous or life-threatening.

Maybe one of the resident lawyers can help me out on this but I think that criminal negligence which resuts in a death is considered murder

 

[midlifeflyer]

Whether it's considered murder or some lesser version of homicide is a matter of state law.

But TP is right. Some other countries have used criminal statutes, sometimes successfully sometimes not. There's clearly a tension between the need for openness with the NTSB so that corrections can be made and the need to punish truly reckless behavior.

So far, it's probably the overall safety record of commercial aviation that has kept all but the worst cases from being looked at here.